More drug traffickers' clemency pleas rejected

More drug traffickers' clemency pleas rejected

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Multa Fidrus, Jakarta/Tangerang

Seven more convicted drug traffickers on death row are facing
imminent execution after President Megawati Soekarnoputri turned
down their requests for clemency on Thursday.

Last month, she also refused to grant clemency for four other
convicted drug traffickers on death row, including Indian Ayodhya
Prasad Chaubey. in 2003, the President also denied clemency for
another drug trafficker.

The move was aimed at strengthening the country's resolve to
fight drug abuse, Megawati said during Thursday's observance of
the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
in Jakarta, which was on June 26.

Megawati admitted she took no pleasure in rejecting the
appeals for clemency, but it was her obligation to protect the
nation's youth from illicit drugs.

"I have to stress here that it is my obligation to protect our
children and youth from the threat of drug abuse and
trafficking," she said.

Megawati asked for understanding from foreign countries over
the decision, as most of those convicted were foreigners.

"I ask for understanding from the families of the convicts and
also from foreign governments because I take no pleasure in
taking such a decision," she said.

The President said the government was trying to be consistent
in upholding the law against drug traffickers and abusers in the
country.

National Narcotics Agency (BNN) chief Insp. Gen. Togar
Sianipar said that five of the seven drug traffickers in question
were foreigners and the other two were Indonesians.

He did not mention the names of the seven convicts, saying
that he was not familiar with the details of their appeals.

Data from the Tangerang District Court, which frequently hands
down death sentences for drug traffickers, shows that only five
convicts had filed appeals for presidential pardon.

They are Indra Bahadur Tamang from Nepal, Samuel Iwuchekwu
from Nigeria, Hansen Anthony from Nigeria, Namaona Denis from
Malawi and Muhammad Abdul Hafez from Pakistan.

They were sentenced to death between 2000 to 2002 and the
court said it had not received the information that the President
had rejected appeals for clemency sought by the five convicts.

Dadi Waluyo and Hussen Tuhuteru, lawyers of the five convicts,
could not be reached for comment on the decision.

Drug abuse and trafficking cases in Indonesia have increased
almost three fold in the past three years, forcing the government
to take drastic measures to deter offenders.

In the past one-and-a-half years, the prosecutor's offices
around the country have submitted 764 drug-related cases to the
courts.

The Tangerang court is known for its harsh sentences as it has
handed down the death penalty for 26 defendants in the past four
years.

Such a decision, while applauded by national antidrug
activists, has been criticized by human rights campaigners at
home and abroad, who argue that capital punishment is inhuman.

Amnesty International urged Megawati last month to commute the
death sentences for Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey and three other
prisoners on death row.

No executions have been carried out in recent years, but
police said last month that firing squads were on standby to
execute Chaubey who was caught in 1994 for trying to smuggle 12
kilograms of heroin into the country.