Indonesia
has executed six people convicted on drug charges, despite international pleas
for them to be spared. They are the first executions to take place under new
President Joko Widodo.
Five foreigners and an Indonesian woman sentenced to death on drug charges will be executed by firing squad despite international pleas, Indonesian officials said Saturday. (AP Photo/Wagino) |
Indonesia
on Sunday put to death five foreigners and an Indonesian woman who had all been
sentenced to death on drug charges, despite calls for a stay of execution from
around the world.
The
foreigners came from Brazil, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Malawi and Nigeria. The
executions were carried out by firing squad.
Indonesian
authorities refused to heed all international requests for clemency. These
included a last-minute appeal to President Joko Widodo by Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff to spare the life of her compatriot Marco Archer Cardoso
Moreira.
"The
enforcement of the death penalty, which is increasingly rejected by the international community, has grave consequences for the relations between our
two countries," Rousseff said on Saturday local time after Moreira, 53,
was executed despite her plea.
Ex-pilot Moreira was among those executed |
The Dutch
government also made a last-minute plea for the life of its citizen, Ang Kiem
Soei, 62, that was disregarded as well.
The others
who died were Indonesian woman Rani Andriani, Nigerian Daniel Enemuo, Namaona
Denis from Malawi, and a woman from Vietnam, Tran Thi Bich Hanh.
'Cruel and
inhumane'
The
European Union had earlier also urged Indonesia to halt the executions. Foreign
policy chief Federica Mogerini called the plan "deeply regrettable,"
and described the death penalty as "a cruel and inhumane punishment that
fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human
dignity and integrity."
Amnesty
International's research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Rupert
Abbott, said the executions were "a seriously regressive move," and
called on Jakarta to halt plans for future ones. Indonesian authorities say 20
are planned for this year.
Indonesia,
which has strict drug laws, ceased executing people in 2008, but began again in
2013, though 2014 saw no one put to death.
Widodo has pledged to bring reform to Indonesia |
Widodo, who
took office in October, has disappointed activists by his strong support for
capital punishment despite promises to improve the human rights situation in
his country. Last month, he rejected appeals for clemency from all those
executed on Sunday.
His tough
stance has raised concern about other foreigners facing a death sentence,
including two Australians who were part of a group, dubbed the "Bali
Nine," that tried to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia in 2005.
One of
them, Myuran Sukumaran, also had his clemency appeal rejected last month, but
his accomplice Andrew Chan is still waiting for the outcome of his.
tj/bw AFP, AP, dpa)
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