Execution of convicts on death row urged

BANDA ACEH, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam: Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin urged the Attorney General's Office on Friday to immediately execute nine drug convicts on death row, six of whom are foreigners.

Hamid, who was visiting the province with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the legal process to commute the sentences of the nine to life imprisonment had been exhausted when former President Megawati Soekarnoputri had refused to pardon them.

The convicts -- three Indonesians (two women and one man), one Nepalese, three Nigerians, one Malawian and one Pakistani -- are currently being detained in penitentiaries in Cipinang, Tangerang, and Cirebon.

Hamid also said he had requested that the office slap a travel ban on Sujono Takin, a corruption suspect in the Bahana Security case, who has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. -- JP