Medan court rejects Chaubey's second plea for clemency

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan

Lawyers for convicted Indian drug trafficker Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey, 66, filed a second request on Monday for presidential clemency through the Medan District Court in North Sumatra to evade his imminent execution.

However, the court quickly dismissed the plea, saying it was in violation of existing laws.

Court registration committee head Ramli said he was instructed by chief judge Solthoni Mohdally to reject Chaubey's second request for clemency.

Under Article 2 (3a) of Law No. 22/2002, a convict can submit a second plea for presidential clemency two years after their first request is dismissed, court spokesman Binsar Gultom argued.

He said Chaubey's first request for clemency was rejected by the President on Feb. 3, 2003, so the death-row convict still has to wait eights months to file a second plea.

Hadiningtyas, one of Chaubey's lawyers from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH), claimed Chaubey's legal move was justified by the law and slammed the Medan court as "arrogant" for rejecting the plea.

"Our client has the right to seek clemency for the second time because the law allows it. The request for presidential clemency is to evade the death of our client," he added.

Hadiningtyas argued that the plea for clemency was legal because the evidence, 12 kilograms of heroin, was never presented at the court, although it convicted him of drug trafficking.

"The police say they entrusted the evidence with Bank Indonesia, but the central bank denied receiving it," he added.

Aside from which, he said, the convict had initially been interrogated by police and prosecutors without the accompaniment of lawyers.

Hadiningtyas said he and his colleagues from the LBH were only appointed to act for the convict on June 26, 2004.

Binsar also asked the Medan Prosecutor's Office to coordinate with the police to bring about Chaubey's execution, after his last-ditch legal effort was refused by the Supreme Court.

It would be better for the prisoner to be executed soon, anxiety is causing him sleeplessness as he awaits his imminent death, he added.

Chaubey was caught in 1994 in Medan 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 later rejected by both the Medan High Court and the Supreme Court.

On Friday, Supreme Court officials presented a copy of the verdict, which rejected Chaubey's second request for judicial review, to the Medan court.

North Sumatra Police said they have a 10-member firing squad on standby.

The date of the execution had not been revealed on Monday.

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