Executions in Indonesia may be delayed until after Ramadan

Cilacap: Gateway to Nusakambangan Island

Jakarta: Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo has flagged the latest round of executions in the country may be delayed until after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

The nation has been on tenterhooks over the timing of the executions, with various officials indicating they could be held within days.

Mr Prasetyo had earlier said the preparations had all been made and it was merely a matter of choosing the day.

The firing squads had been prepared, spiritual counsellors appointed and prisoners on death row transferred to Nusakambangan, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz, where the executions will take place.

But when asked on Wednesday night if he would wait until after the fasting month was over, Mr Prasetyo said: "Well, maybe. Well, executing (during) fasting (month) is not good, is it? And on the 25th there is still (someone) who will lodge a judicial review."

Mr Prasetyo has previously indicated he would like to see drug kingpin Freddy Budiman, who will appear in court on Wednesday, included in the third wave of executions.

Freddy was sentenced to death in 2013 for importing ecstasy after police seized 1.4 million pills.

However he infuriated authorities by continuing to run a drug syndicate spanning three countries - Netherlands, Pakistan and Indonesia - behind bars.

The numbers to be executed have fluctuated, with Central Java police spokesman Alloysius Liliek Darmanto most recently indicating 15 drug offenders would be killed.

He even suggested the nationalities to local reporters - Indonesians, Chinese, a Pakistani, Nigerians, Senegalese and a Zimbabwean - although he was later slapped down by Mr Prasetyo, who said the final decision was his and it hadn't been made.

On Wednesday night, Mr Prasetyo again said there was no fixed date and the number of people had not been decided either.

"We'll just wait until the last moment because again we want to better prepare and be more successful in the implementation," he said.

Amnesty International recently said some of the death row prisoners at risk of being executed did not receive a fair trial and their cases were emblematic of systemic flaws within the Indonesian justice system.

"President (Joko) Widodo has the chance to show true resolve by halting these executions and ordering a full independent review of all death penalty cases," said Rafendi Djamin, director of Amnesty International's South-East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.

Fourteen drug offenders were executed in Indonesia last year, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Jewel Topsfield, May 19, 2016

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