Thai death row convicts deliver last wishes

Thai death row convicts deliver last wishes

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The two Thai nationals sentenced to death for drug trafficking in
Medan, North Sumatra, have presented their last requests, as they
may be executed on Tuesday or Wednesday night, their lawyers
said.

The lawyers said here on Tuesday that Saelow Praseart, 62, and
Namsong Sirilak, 32, each delivered three requests, to be met at
the time of and following their executions.

Adi Mansar, a lawyer from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH),
said Praseart, who once suffered a broken leg, wanted the legal
team to attend his execution and ensure that his body remained
whole and intact.

Praseart's second request was that the government not carry
out any more executions after his, and his third request was that
all his clothes be given to fellow inmates.

Adi said Sirilak asked that the two pairs of shirts she wore
every day on death row be given to her parents in Thailand and
that her two necklaces and diary be given to her child.

She also asked that her body be sent to her foster father in
Medan, Herliyanto Harahap, for cremation, and that her ashes be
sent to her family in Thailand.

Adi promised that LBH Medan would fulfill the clients'
requests except to attend the actual execution, to show the
lawyers' opposition.

"We are ready to meet all of their requests in order to calm
them prior to their execution," he said.

He said starting Tuesday night, the lawyers would be on
standby at the Pirngadi and Adam Malik hospitals, where the
bodies of the two Thai nationals would be taken for an autopsy.

"The executions are expected to be carried out tonight or
tomorrow night," Adi said on Tuesday, and that prosecutors had
notified LBH Medan about the planned executions.

"It's exactly the same as Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey's case. He
was executed by police firing squad one day after a letter
notifying us of his execution had been delivered," Ade said.

Chaubey, a 65-year-old Indian national, was arrested in 1994
in Medan along with Praseart and Sirilak in possession of 12.19
kilograms of heroin. He was executed on Aug. 5.

Medan Prosecutor's Office head Faried Haryanto refused on
Monday to say when Praseart and Sirilak would face the firing
squad. Under law, execution dates cannot be made public, and are
released on to the death row convicts and their families.

Faried said, however, that the Thai nationals' days were
numbered, and asked journalists to prepare to cover the
executions on Tuesday.

"Tonight (Monday night), you can sleep well and don't need to
stay at Tanjung Gusta prison, because the two Thai prisoners will
not be executed tonight. Beginning tomorrow, you can prepare for
coverage," he said.

Faried added the two prisoners would be executed by firing
squad, separated by only a short span of time.

Sirilak, born on Aug. 24, 1972, and Praseart, born on April 5,
1942, were nabbed on Jan. 21, 1994, hours after landing at
Polonia International Airport, Medan. Local authorities
discovered the heroin in their bags.

The two were sentenced to death on Dec. 14, 1994 by the Medan
District Court and were upheld by higher courts. A few months
ago, the President turned down their pleas for a pardon.

Human rights campaigners have opposed the death sentence for
drugs dealers, as capital punishment had not proved to be a
deterrent for others.