Indian drug trafficker to be executed soon

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday it was making preparations for the execution of convicted Indian drug dealer Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey following the Supreme Court's rejection of his second request for a review.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said the office received confirmation from the Supreme Court recently that Chaubey's last-ditch legal effort to evade execution had been rejected.

"The Supreme Court sent a copy of its verdict to the Medan High Court last week. I presume the Medan Prosecutor's Office has received a copy. We are now preparing for the execution," said Kemas.

The execution will be conducted by a firing squad. The date of the execution will not be announced. The prosecutor's office will only inform the convict and his family one day before the decided date.

Indonesia last executed a convict in 1994, when a Malaysian drug dealer, identified as Chan Ting Tong alias Steven Chong, was shot by a 12-man firing squad.

Human rights campaigners in the country have since then demanded an end to capital punishment.

Chaubey was caught in 1994 in Medan, North Sumatra when he was trying to smuggle 12 kilograms of heroin into the country. The Medan District Court sentenced him to death in 1995.

His appeal was then rejected by both the Medan High Court and the Supreme Court.

Kemas said he did not know when the execution would be conducted as prosecutors must first settle administrative matters. He added the government must fulfill the convict's last request, which has not been submitted.

"What if he wants to go to India to see his hometown for the last time? It will take a few weeks before we can execute him, but we will do it as soon as possible," said Kemas.

Earlier that day, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he had prepared a firing squad to conduct the execution.

"I have talked with the attorney general and he confirmed that at least one convict will be executed soon. That's why we have assigned the firing squad," said Da'i.

He said the execution of a convicted drug dealer would serve as a deterrent and renew the country's commitment to the elimination of drug trafficking ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

According to Law No. 22/1997 on narcotics and Law No. 5/1997 on psychotropic substances, a violation carries the maximum punishment of death.

The country's legal system allows a convict to appeal twice and seek clemency and a case review, a process that often takes several years.

Kemas said at least four of the 30 convicts on death row would follow Chaubey because their demand for clemency had been rejected.

He was referring to death-row convicts such as Meirika Franola, Rani Maharani and Dany Maharwan, whose death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001. Their second request for clemency was rejected.

According to a recent survey by the National Narcotics Agency and the University of Indonesia, around 4 percent of Indonesians, or around 9 million people, used drugs in 2003, four times higher than in the previous year.