Indonesia executes eight drug convicts amid global outcry

Indonesia has executed eight drug-trafficking convicts of different nationalities by a firing squad, marking the country's second mass execution this year.

Two Australians, four Nigerians, an Indonesian and a Brazilian were executed by a firing squad early on Wednesday on Nusakambangan high-security prison island near Cilacap in Central Java, Indonesia.

“The executions were carried out at 12:30 a.m.” local time (1730 GMT on Tuesday), said Suhendro Putro, funeral director with the Javanese Christian Church in Cilacap.

However, the execution of a ninth convict, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a Filipina drug convict and mother of two, was unexpectedly postponed upon granting a last-minute temporary reprieve, after one of her recruiters surrendered to police in the Philippines.

“The execution of Mary Jane (Veloso) has been postponed because there was a request from the Philippine president related to a perpetrator suspected of human trafficking who surrendered herself in the Philippines,” said Tony Spontana, the spokesperson for the attorney general.  

“Mary Jane has been asked to testify,” Spontana added.

Indonesian authorities had given the convicts a final notice at the weekend.

According to the Indonesian constitution, Jakarta must give 72 hours’ notice before an execution.

On April 25, formal notifications were issued to the eight foreign convicts, though all of them lost appeals for clemency from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has adopted a hard line against drug trafficking and argues that Jakarta is facing a national emergency over drug trafficking.

French national Serge Atlaoui, who had also been on death row for drug-related crimes, was granted a temporary reprieve after French President Francois Hollande pressured Jakarta and warned of “consequences” if its citizen is executed.

In the lead-up to the executions, the United Nations and Australia had censured Indonesia for its decision to execute the convicts.

In January, five foreign drug-trafficking convicts and an Indonesian convicted of murder were executed on Nusakambangan island.

Some 130 people are on death row in Indonesia mostly for drug crimes. Drug offenders face harsh punishments, including the death penalty, in the country. About a third of the convicted people are foreigners.

RS/MHB/AS

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