Death row inmates plead for clemency

Death row inmates plead for clemency

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post/Tangerang

"Ibu, please help us. Don't let us be shot by the firing
squad ... We still have families and children," Edith Yunita
Sianturi told visiting First Lady Kristiani Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono on Thursday, seeking clemency from the death sentence
imposed on her.

Sianturi is one of six female inmates on death row at the
Tangerang Penitentiary who were paid a visit by Kristiani and the
State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Hatta, accompanied
by Banten deputy governor Ratu Atut Choisiah.

The visit to the women cells was in conjunction with the
Women's Day on Dec. 22.

As the six only had two minutes to meet Kristiani, they
tearfully tried to stop her from leaving. Presidential bodyguards
and prison officers pushed them back in.

Before leaving, Kristiani told the warden and guards to treat
the inmates well and asked that the convicted women write a
journal "which could be a mirror for others to avoid committing
crimes".

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf
Kalla are working hard to build a prosperous, peaceful and just
country. So, you must abide by the law when you're out of here
someday. Never return to jail," she said.

Meanwhile, Meutia pledged to hold a one-hour breath exercise
session each day in the prison to maintain the inmates' mental
health.

The women's penitentiary currently houses 260 inmates and 60
percent of them were convicted for drugs offenses, including
those on death row: Sianturi, Merry Utami, Meirika Franola and
Rani Andriani, and two Thai nationals, Nonthanam M. Saicom and
Bunyong Kaosa Ard.