Tag: Indonesia (page 2)

Just another day in Paradise. Escorted by two fighter jets carrying live missiles, commercial budget airline Wings Air, owned by Lion Air, today flew Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Bali to Cilacap, where they were then taken by ferry to Nusakambangan, Indonesia’s death island where within days, they and 8 other convicted drug offenders will be driven at midnight to a killing field, tied to wooden posts and shot to death simultaneously.

According to news reports, Andrew and Myuran were silent as they were led to an armored vehicle to be taken to the airport, but thanked the guards as they left for their treatment during the decade they spent at Bali's hellhole Kerobokan prison.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says "We are frankly revolted." He says there's little chance of a change of heart, and Indonesia is just digging in its heels. [More...]

Indonesia President Joko Widodo has rejected Austrialian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plea for mercy for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, which was made by telephone call earlier in the week.

In an interview with daily business newspaper Kontan on Friday, the President reiterated that he would not commute the sentences imposed on drug traffickers as the country was in a state of emergency caused by drug abuse. He insisted that the executions of the convicts would go ahead as scheduled. On Thursday, the government had initially kept silent after Abbott issued his statement.

“Our position is clear: our laws cannot be interfered with,” the newspaper quoted Jokowi as saying.

In West Java (Indonesia's death island and killing fields are in Central Java) the locals have taken to burning car and motorcycle thieves alive (called lynchings), saying prison isn't an acceptable punishment, because when they get out, they'll steal again.[More...]

Today it was announced ten coffins have arrived on Nusakambangan island, Indonesia's island of death.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has refused to budge on the imminent executions of drug offenders, which by all accounts will proceed as soon as possible. He has tuned out requests by leaders of Brazil, Nigeria, France, the Philippines, and especially Australia.

What is fueling his stubborn resistance? He says other countries need to butt out and let Indonesia enforce its laws. He says this is about legal sovereignty and Indonesia's dignity. Shorter version: the politics of pride and nationalism. [More...]

Indonesia President Joko Widodo said this month Indonesia's approach to terrorism is one of tolerance, not security.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Wednesday that Indonesia practiced religious tolerance and was using cultural approaches to eradicate terrorism in the country, rather than adopting a security approach.

“We have shown that tolerance and mutual respect is strong and we always take the middle ground [...]. So there is no immense extremism and that is what other countries see [in us],” said Jokowi on the last day of the sixth Indonesian Muslims Congress (KUII) in Yogyakarta.

Widodo and Indonesia insist on executions of drug mules as a response to the problem of drug trafficking, but for the danger of terrorists, they urge “soft” religious and cultural approaches." Just like Indonesia offers "get of jail free" cards to terrorists.[More...]

The social media campaign to boycott Bali as a result of its execution of non-violent drug traffickers is picking up steam. Ticket sales are down.

Within days, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan of the Bali Nine and 9 other drug traffickers will be flown to Nusakambangan Island, put in isolation cells, and within three days, taken to one of the island's two killing fields, tied to a wooden cross and shot.

Military jets, including a squadron of Sukhoi and a Hercules CN-295 military transport airbus, and hundreds of soldiers will be deployed to transfer Andrew and Myuran. [More...]

Indonesia President Joko Wikodo says there will be no delay in the executions of Bali Nine members Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. Hopes were raised earlier this week when their transfer to the Nusakambangan island prison was delayed.

Boycott Bali. There are beautiful beaches all over the world. Visit the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Maldives or any other country that does not execute non-violent drug offenders. [More...]

Indonesia has approved the transfer of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the Bali Nine duo scheduled for execution this month, to Nusakambangan, a prison island off central Java, where they will be taken to Batu Prison, known as “Indonesia’s Alcatraz” and then, within days, to a killing field, tied to a wooden cross and killed by a firing squad of police from Indonesia's BRIMOB. They will be shot through the heart (and if they don't die quickly, shot again behind the ear.)[More...]

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two members of the Bali 9 facing the death penalty, were officially notified Thursday they are scheduled for execution this month. They will be taken from Kerobokan prison in Bali, flown to Jogjakarta, and after a 5 hour drive, arrive at the central prison on Nusa Kambangan Island near Central Java. From there, they and 8 to 10 other drug traffickers from Brazil, France, Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines, will be driven to a shooting field in the dead of night, tied to wooden crosses and executed by firing squad.

A Catholic priest present at the 2008 execution of three Nigerian drug traffickers described the agonizing deaths.[More...]

Another scandal at Kerobokan prison in Bali. Julian Ponder, serving 6 years for possession, while his partner and the mother of his child got one year and is back in Britain, fell in love with the British diplomat assigned to console and meet with Lindsay Sandiford, the grandmotherly woman sentenced to death. She tried to say Julian and Rachel were the ringleaders, but her proof fell way short and the Indonesians didn't believe her. They thought she took them on a wild goose chase. When she didn't deliver, she got a death sentence. [More....]

Bali 9 inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are closer to execution. They could be killed within weeks. Andrew Chan's appeal for clemency was denied last week. (Background here.) A police commander says he has received messages the two are on a list for February.

Indonesia President President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the country's Attorney General say no more appeals are allowed by law. Their lawyers disagree, and have filed a new appeal in the Densepar District Court. Today, according to their lawyers, the court accepted the new appeal for filing.

Police at Indonesia's two killing fields, the Nirbaya and Li- musbuntu on the island of Nusakambanga, are ready and waiting for them, as well as 6 other convicted drug offenders whose killings are scheduled next. They include [More...]

Police in Bali paraded Australian Nicholas James Langan, 25, before the media this week. His offense: he and an Indonesian acquaintance were caught sharing a joint on the beach. Police also showcased the joint, which contained less than one gram of pot. They also found a "roach" that weighed 1/10 of one gram. The combined weight was under one gram.

The penalty for drug possession (as opposed to trafficking for which the death penalty is authorized) is 4 to 12 years in prison. Using drugs carries an additional 5 year penalty. Police will ask prosecutors to charge them with both offenses. [More...]

R.I.P. Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira (Brazil), Ang Kiem Soei (The Netherlands), Daniel Enemuo (Nigeria), Namaona Denis (Malawi), Tran Thi Bich Hanh (Vietnam) and Rani Andriani (Indonesia.) Despite pleas from governmental leaders and world-wide criticism, the four men and two women were executed just after midnight in Indonesia. There are 58 more convicted drug offenders on Indonesia's death row.

For background, see my earlier post today here, this from yesterday, this post from a few days ago and this one from over a year ago.

It seems not much has changed in Indonesia. The five who were executed on Nusakambangan Island, in Central Java, were taken from their cells in the dead of night and driven to a remote spot several miles away where they were shot in pairs. Media and families were of those killed were not allowed to be present. Reactions from the governments in the home countries of those killed was swift: [More....]