Indonesian firing squads execute six drug convicts

JAKARTA

Six prisoners were executed in Indonesia early Sunday morning despite international pleas for a last minute reprieve, local media reported.

One woman and four men were killed by firing squad simultaneously on Nusa Kambangan prison island, south of Java, at 12.30 a.m. local time (1730GMT Saturday), Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo told MetroTV.

A second woman was executed at 12.46 a.m. in Boyolali prison, Central Java province, he added. All six had been convicted of drugs offenses.

"Hopefully, this will have a deterrent effect," Prasetyo said.

They were confirmed dead ten minutes after the firing squads opened fire and their bodies collected by ambulances for burial or cremation.

The four men were from Brazil, Nigeria, Malawi and the Netherlands. One woman was a Vietnamese national while the other was Indonesian.

Appeals for them to be spared were ignored, leading to Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors to Jakarta.

Tran Thi Bich Hanh, 37, a Vietnamese former journalist convicted of trafficking crystal methamphetamine, waved goodbye to fellow prisoners in the rain before being taken to Boyolali.

Suprobowati , the head of Bulu women’s prison where Tran had been on death row, said Tran, known as Asien among prisoners and prison officers, had requested her handcuffs be removed before she was killed.

"She said it [the death penalty] was her destiny," Suprobowati, who like many Indonesian’s uses one name, told The Anadolu Agency.

Shinta Ardhan, who tutored Tran in prison, said: "Rest in peace Asien. The rain tonight was to accompany your journey."

Tran was arrested at Adi Sumarmo airport, Surakarta, four years ago with 1.1 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth 2.2 billion rupiah ($175,000), according to the prosecution at her trial. She was sentenced to death despite the prosecution requesting a life prison term.

Local residents reported hearing gunfire at Boyolali. "I'm still in shock,” a man named Irvan said. “I did not expect to hear the gunshots all at once.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte had asked President Joko Widodo to spare Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, and Ang Kiem Soe, 52, who was born in Papua but had Dutch nationality.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said in a statement late Saturday that the execution was "an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity."

The Brazilian president’s office stated: "The use of the death penalty, which the world society increasingly condemns, affects severely the relationship of our countries."

Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it respected the decision to withdraw the ambassadors. "It was usual thing and was their right,” spokesman Armanatha Nasir told AA.

The executions were the first in Indonesia since Widodo came to power. Last month, the president said he would refuse clemency for 64 drugs offenders facing execution, citing the harm caused to Indonesian society by illegal narcotics.

The other condemned prisoners were Namaona Denis, 48, from Malawi; Daniel Enemuo, 38, from Nigeria, and Indonesian Rani Andriani.

Indonesia has said 20 executions are scheduled for this year.