Indonesia to execute 14 despite doubts over guilt

Fourteen prisoners on death row have been moved to isolation holding cells on Nusa Kambangan in wait of their execution. The prisoners include inmates from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and South Africa, and four Indonesians,

The Indonesian government is yet to formally announce the specifics of the third round of executions this year, stating only that it is fast approaching.

However, it is understood that after the diplomatic strain that followed the executions of 14 inmates last year, nationals from the US and Britain will not face the firing squad this round.

According to the Guardian, a group of lawyers from the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH) have compiled an unofficial list of those set to be executed based on visits to prisoners held in isolation cells at Nusa Kambangan on Tuesday.

Ricky Gunawan, the director of LBH and the lawyer for the Nigerian national was with his client on Tuesday when the inmate was called to sign a letter confirming the court decision on his narcotics case was final and binding.

The letter is essentially legal notice that a prisoner can be executed after 72 hours. “[My client] did not sign the acceptance letter, though,” said Gunawan. “He signed a letter of refusal and told the prosecuting officer: ‘We are in the process of seeking clemency.’”

A clemency appeal for Merri Utami, 42, an Indonesian woman reportedly being held in an isolation cell, was also lodged on Tuesday morning, together with a handwritten appeal to the president.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is said to have argued that Utami was duped into smuggling 1.1kg of heroin into Indonesia, after becoming involved with a Canadian man who showered her with gifts and then asked her to carry a bag back from their holiday together in Nepal.

Once arrested at Soekarno Hatta airport, Utami was allegedly taken to a hotel where she was beaten and threatened with rape.

News of the executions being days away sparked outrage from rights groups, which argue that many of the cases of prisoners on death row in Indonesia are marked by questionable and inhumane practices, including beatings, torture and forced confessions.

“President Widodo’s era was supposed to represent a new start for human rights in Indonesia,” said Josef Benedict, a deputy director for Southeast Asia at Amnesty International.

“Sadly, he could preside over the highest number of executions in the country’s democratic era at a time when most of the world has turned its back on this cruel practice.”