Thai drug convicts executed in Medan
Thai drug convicts executed in Medan
The Jakarta Post, Medan, Jakarta
Two Thai nationals convicted of drug trafficking were executed by
firing squad in the early hours of Friday morning in Medan, North
Sumatra, despite a last-minute appeal by Amnesty International to
spare their lives.
The head of the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, Sudibyo
Saleh, said Namsong Sirilak, a 32-year-old woman, and Saelow
Prasert, a 62-year-old man, were executed separately at 1:30 a.m.
on Friday.
"They both looked calm after praying, seconds before the
execution," Sudibyo said.
Namsong's ashes will be sent to Bangkok, while Saelow has been
buried at a Christian cemetery in Medan.
The two were arrested in Medan in January 1994, along with
Indian national Ayodhay Prasad Chaubey, carrying 12 kilograms of
heroin. All three were sentenced to death in 1996. Chaubey was
executed in August.
According to social worker Erliyanto Harahap, who visited with
the two before their execution, Namsong spoke by telephone with
her 12-year-old son for the last time a few hours before her
death.
"I only know that her son asked when his mom was coming home.
Then Namsong replied she didn't know because she was still busy,"
Harahap was quoted as saying.
Saelow listed among his final requests that he be the last
person executed in Indonesia, according to Detik.com news portal.
Amnesty International, in a letter urging people to register
their objections to the executions with President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, questioned the fairness of the Thais' original
trials.
"Amnesty International believes that their trials may not have
been fair, because they did not have access to legal
representation before their trial or to interpreters during the
police investigation," the London-based group said.
The European Union expressed dismay and regret at the
executions, and hoped that the next government would set up a
moratorium on the death penalty.
Rudy Satrio, a criminal law expert at the University of
Indonesia's School of Law, said the next president could do
nothing to save those on death row if their appeals for clemency
had already been turned down twice by the previous president.
"According to the law, the convicts have two opportunities to
ask for presidential clemency. If he or she has used all of these
opportunities, there is nothing the new president can do to save
their lives," Rudy Satrio told The Jakarta Post.
Megawati rejected appeals for clemency from the Thais and
eight others on death row. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected
to be sworn in as the next president on Oct. 20.
Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, chairman of the National
Commission on Human Rights, said the amended Constitution
guaranteed the right to life.
Article 28a of the Constitution says that everybody has the
right to life and the right to defend his or her life.
Article 28i, Paragraph 1, states "the right to life, the right
not to be tortured ... are human rights which cannot be taken
away under any circumstances".
"This means convictions after the amendments were made to the
Constitution are not constitutional. The executed convicts'
relatives or friends could file a judicial review with the
Constitutional Court against the death penalty," Garuda said.
Convicts on death row
No. Convict Crime Year of verdict
1. Tugiman bin Sikin murder 1992
2. Koh Kim Chea robbery 1992
3. Suryadi murder 1992
4. Surya Darma treason 1993
7. Dance Soru murder 1994
8. Samuel I. Okoye drugs 2000
9. Hansen A. Nwaolisa drugs 2000
10. Indra B. Tamang drugs 2001
11. Muhammad A. Hafez drugs 2002
12. Namaona Denis drugs 2002
13. Amrozi terror 2003
14. Ali Immran terror 2003
15. Imam Samudra terror 2003