No pardon for Thai smugglers

JAKARTA: Three Thai nationals on death row inhabiting a North Sumatra jail were not among the 17,361 convicts across the country who had been granted a government pardon in commemoration of Indonesia's 54th Independence Day.

"The three convicts are Saelan Prasad, 52, Ayodiya Prasad Combay, 53, and Namsong Sirlak, 23," the official in charge of prison affairs Mintarjo told Antara over the weekend.

The three Thais were sentenced to death for smuggling 12.5 kilograms of heroin into Indonesian territory through Polonia Airport, Medan, in 1993.

The Thais could apply for clemency from the president, he said.

Six foreigners are jailed in North Sumatera for various offenses. Five of them are Thai nationals, and the other is a Malaysian. (edt)