|
LATEST NEWS
|
Bali 9 appeals may be curtailed
Myuran Sukumaran - Scott Rush - Andrew Chan
|
Tom Allard, Jakarta -
March 2009
INDONESIA'S Supreme Court has prepared a new edict giving prosecutors the right to speed the execution of death row inmates, including three Australian drug couriers under sentence of death in Bali's Kerobokan jail.
The edict has grave implications for Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Scott Rush — the three members of the Bali Nine heroin smuggling syndicate facing death — not least because it raises the prospect their final appeals will be heard during Indonesia's election season.
Prosecutors have been pressing the Supreme Court to allow them to clear a backlog of death penalty cases, arguing the current system, which permits the condemned to wait as long as they like before launching their appeal, was a loophole being exploited to buy time.
In an interview with The Age, Supreme Court judge Joko Sarwoko said he had drafted the new edict, which would put power in the hands of prosecutors to determine when final appeals have to be lodged.
"It is up to the prosecutors to decide," he said. "Once they decide it, they must send a warning or announcement letter to the person on the death row informing them that their remaining legal avenue has to be exercised.
"If, after the proper time limit, the person does not exercise his rights, the prosecutors are entitled to execute the person."
Judge Sarwoko said he believed the appropriate period for a death row inmates to lodge their final reviews would be "one month or two months".
He emphasised that the ruling would apply to those now on death row. "Yes, it includes the Bali Nine people," Judge Sarwoko said.
It has been 2½ years since Rush had his life sentence increased to death. Chan and Sukumaran have always faced death but, like Rush, have delayed their final appeal.
Chan and Sukumaran, both of Sydney, were found to be the ringleaders of the ill-fated drug syndicateand have repeatedly pleaded not guilty.
Rush, of Brisbane, has, after initial denials, confessed his guilt and pleaded for mercy. One of the lowly "mules" of the operation, he was caught with a large amount of heroin strapped to his body at Denpasar airport in April 2005.
Rush's lawyer, Colin McDonald, QC, has said that he wanted to delay his final appeal until after Indonesia's presidential poll. If the presidential election goes to a final run-off, it will not be held until September.
The death penalty is, according to surveys, widely supported in Indonesia.
|
Death row ruling threatens appeals of Bali drug couriers
From top Scott Rush , Andrew Chan & Myuran Sukumaran
|
THE Indonesian Supreme Court has prepared an edict giving prosecutors the right to speed up the execution of death row inmates, including three Australian drug couriers in Kerobokan jail, Bali.
The edict has grave implications for Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Scott Rush, not least because it raises the prospect that their final legal appeals will have to be heard in the highly charged climate of the country's presidential election campaign.
Prosecutors have been pressing the Supreme Court to allow them to clear a backlog of death penalty cases, arguing that the current system allowing the condemned to wait as long as they like before lodging appeals is a loophole that is exploited to buy time.
In an interview with the Herald, a Supreme Court judge, Joko Sarwoko, said he had drafted the edict, which would put power exclusively in the hands of prosecutors to determine when final appeals had to be lodged, and the timing of any subsequent execution. "It is up to the prosecutors to decide. Once they decide it, they must send a warning or announcement letter to the person on the death row informing them that their remaining legal avenue has to be exercised."
Judge Sarwoko said he believed the appropriate warning period would be "one month or two months". He emphasised the ruling would be retrospective.
"Yes, it includes the Bali nine people," Judge Sarwoko said.
It has been 2½ years since Rush had his life sentence changed to one of death.
Chan and Sukumaran, both of Sydney, were found to be the ringleaders of the ill-fated drug syndicate. They have repeatedly pleaded not guilty and never expressed any contrition.
Rush, of Brisbane, has, after initial denials, confessed his guilt and pleaded for mercy. He was on his first overseas trip and one of the operation's couriers.
He was caught with a large amount of heroin strapped to his body at Denpasar airport in April 2005.
His lawyer, Colin McDonald, QC, has said previously that he wanted to delay his final appeal until after the presidential poll. If a run-off was needed it would not be held until September.v
The death penalty is widely supported in Indonesia, according to surveys, especially for drug traffickers. Any reduction in the sentences of the Australians would inevitably become a hot political issue.
Human rights groups in Indonesia said the highly publicised executions of drug traffickers like Chan, Sukumaran and Rush during the campaign would help President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ram home his anti-drugs message.
If a final appeal against execution is rejected, the only other avenue for death row inmates is a presidential pardon. But Mr Yudhoyono has rejected pleas for clemency from several foreigners on drug trafficking charges.
About 100 people are on death row in Indonesia. Many have been there longer than the three Australians, and the Attorney-General's office could not be contacted to ascertain its priorities.
However, last year the deputy attorney-general, Abdul Kadir Ritonga - who oversees prosecutions - expressed his strong support for executing drug traffickers, making specific mention of those convicted in the Bali case.
Judge Sarwoko said the new edict would be formalised in the "near future" following a meeting of Supreme Court judges.
|
Indonesia increases use of death penalty
Adam Gartrell -
March 17, 2009
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has overseen a steep increase in the country's use of the death penalty, a human rights group says.
Nineteen people have been executed since Yudhoyono took over in 2004, compared to a total of just four executions under his predecessors Megawati Sukarnoputri and Abdurrahman Wahid, rights group Imparsial says.
"All of Indonesia's presidents have failed to observe human rights, no exception," Imparsial's Bhatara Ibnu Reza told AAP.
"But in practice, SBY has overseen the most executions."
Ten people were executed in 2008, including Bali bombers Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, who faced a firing squad in November.
Since Yudhoyono was elected, Indonesia's courts have sentenced 57 people to death, including three Australians.
Heroin smugglers Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Scott Rush - three of the so-called Bali Nine - are currently on death row, with plans to lodge a final legal appeal.
If that appeal is rejected, their only hope will become presidential clemency.
But Yudhoyono - who is expected to hold on to power in this year's presidential election - has previously rejected a number of pleas for death row clemency, and remains firmly anti-drugs.
The Rudd government says it will press for clemency for the trio, but Reza believes its efforts will be undermined by its failure to oppose the Bali bombers' executions.
"The Australian government didn't give a good response when Amrozi and his friends were executed," he said.
"If they want to be consistent about the death penalty, they should have responded the same in both cases."
© 2009 AAP
| |
CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE NEWS PAGE
| | | |
|
