JP/4/drugs
JP/4/drugs
Police seek go-ahead to execute drug convicts
Abdul Khalik
Jakarta
The National police announced on Sunday that they a firing squad
on standby to execute the drug dealers currently on death row,
but the Attorney General's Office (AGO) said it had no immediate
plans regarding their execution.
"We have designated officers to carry out the executions.
However, we will have to wait for an order from the prosecutorial
authorities before doing so. We hope they will issue such an
instruction soon," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said
during an antidrug rally in Senayan, South Jakarta.
Separately on Sunday, an AGO spokesman said his office had no
plans for the imminent execution of any convicted drugs dealer as
all of them were appealing their sentences.
"Our data shows that there are no convicts to be executed in
the near future. According to our records, they have all appealed
to higher courts. We must wait for this process to end before
planning executions," Kemas Yahya Rahman told The Jakarta Post.
But police data shows that at least four of the convicts have
had their appeals rejected by the Supreme Court and the President
rejected their pleas for clemency.
National Narcotics Agency (BNN) director Comr. Gen. Togar
Sianipar said that four out of the around 30 convicts on death
row should have been executed several months ago after their
requests for presidential pardons were rejected.
"They must be executed as soon as possible to show our
sincerity in eradicating drug trafficking. These executions would
have a deterrent effect on other dealers," he told the Post.
He was referring to big-time death-row offenders such as
Meirika Franola, Rani Maharani, and Dany Maharwan, whose death
sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court in 2001. Their
requests for clemency were also rejected by the President.
According to Laws No. 22/1997 on narcotics and No. 5/1997 on
psychotropic substances, certain drug offenses carry a maximum
sentence of death.
However, even though a district court sentences a defendant to
death, he or she may appeal to the high court and later to the
Supreme Court.
The process does not end here because although the Supreme
Court has handed down a ruling, a convicted person may still ask
the Supreme Court to review the case based on new evidence, and
then file up to two requests for presidential pardon as
stipulated in Law No. 3/1950 on clemency.
Togar blamed the slow and unwieldy legal process for the slow
progress as regards the execution of convicted drug dealers.
He accused prosecutors and higher courts of intentionally
trying to prolong the appeals process so as to delay the
execution of the persons involved.
Out of so a large number of persons sentenced to death for
drug offenses, only one has been executed in the last 10 years --
Malaysian Chan Ting Tong alias Steven Chong was shot by a 12-man
firing squad.
The failure to execute those given the death penalty had
caused an increase in the number of drugs cases over the last
three years, Togar argued.
According to the latest survey by Togar's office and the
University of Indonesia, around 4 percent of the Indonesian
population, or around nine million people, used drugs in 2003, an
increase of almost 400 percent compared to the 2002 figure.
"The medication for one addict costs Rp 5 million per month.
Around nine million of addicts mean we have to spend around Rp 45
trillion per month on medication alone," said Togar.
I-box
4 convicts whose clemency pleas have been rejected by President
No. Convict Nationality District Court
1. Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey Indian Medan
2. Deni Setia Maharwan Indonesian Tangerang
3. Meirika Franola Indonesian Tangerang
4. Rani Andriani Indonesian Tangerang