Woman convict faces execution

Woman convict faces execution

Iman D. Nugroho, The Jakarta Post/Surabaya

Eight years after the Surabaya District Court found her guilty of
premeditated murder, Astini is to face the firing squad after
Idul Fitri.

She will be the ninth Indonesian convict to be executed since
1978. Thousands of others are believed to have been executed
without trial for their involvement in the now banned Indonesian
Communist Party.

Astini, 49, was found guilty of murdering and mutilating three
women on separate occasions between August 1993 and September
1995. She killed the three because they were unable to repay
their debts to her.

But she has been given a stay of execution for more than a
week due to Ramadhan.

Head of the East Java Prosecutor's Office Dharmawan said the
execution had originally been scheduled for Sunday at the latest,
or one month after the Supreme Court sent a copy of its verdict
rejecting her motion for a case review to the prosecutors.

"We postponed the execution until after Idul Fitri in respect
for Ramadhan," Dharmawan said on Sunday.

Astini had earlier requested presidential clemency, which was
turned down by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri in July.

Separately, East Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Edy Sunarno said
he had yet to formally receive an order from the East Java
Prosecutor's Office to execute Astini.

"(The execution) is under the authority of the Prosecutor's
Office, and we're just assisting the execution. So as soon as
they order us to execute her, we'll prepare everything
immediately," Edy was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said the arrangements were still being processed by the
prosecutor's office.

Purwanti Suyatni, the warden of Malang women's prison, where
Astini is confined, was unable to be reached for comment, as was
Astini's lawyer Ida Sampit Karo-karo.

Convicts who had been previously executed were Hoesin Umar
Bafari (1978), Henky Tupanwael and Kusni Kasdut (1980), Adi
Saputra (1993), Karta Tjahyadi and Katjong Laranu (1995), Gerson
Pandie and Federik Soru (2001).

There are now 15 convicts on death row, including three
masterminds of the Bali bombings in 2002 Amrozi, Imam Samudra and
Ali Imron.

Indonesia has executed three convicts for drug trafficking
this year.

Namsong Sirilak, a 32-year-old woman, and Saelow Prasert, a
62-year-old man, both Thai nationals, were executed separately on
Oct. 1. Another convict, who was sentenced to death for smuggling
12 kilograms of heroin, Indian national Ayodhay Prasad Chaubey,
was executed in August. The Medan District Court found the three
guilty and sentenced them to death in 1996.

Domestic and international human rights groups have repeatedly
called on the Indonesian government to abolish the death penalty.

Following the execution of the three foreign nationals in
Medan, the European Union asked the Indonesian government to
place a moratorium on the death penalty.

Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights Abdul
Hakim Garuda Nusantara supported the call, saying the amended
Constitution guaranteed the right to life.