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