The Jakarta Globe, 18 January 2015
Jakarta. Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in Indonesia after the Southeast Asian nation ignored their pleas for clemency and executed six prisoners for drug offences on Sunday, the first executions under President Joko Widodo.
The five foreigners and one Indonesian were killed by firing squad shortly after midnight, the Attorney General’s Office said. The foreigners were from Nigeria, Malawi, Vietnam, the Netherlands and Brazil.
Brazil recalled its ambassador in Jakarta for consultations and said the executions would affect bilateral relations.
“The use of the death penalty, which the world society increasingly condemns, affects severely the relationship of our countries,” the presidency said in a statement published by Brazil’s official news agency.
The Netherlands, a former colonial power in Indonesia, also recalled its ambassador and condemned the execution of its citizen, Ang Kiem Soei.
“It is a cruel and inhuman punishment that amounts to an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” said Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders.
Before the execution, the lawyer for Soei tweeted that Soei was thankful for the Dutch government’s unsuccessful efforts and that he would stand before the firing squad without a blindfold.
Indonesia’s president, who signed off on the executions last month, has taken a tough stance on the rule of law and pledged no clemency for drug offenders.
Indonesia resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.
“This is a country that just a few years ago had taken positive steps to move away from the death penalty, but the authorities are now steering the country in the opposite direction,” said Rupert Abbott, a Southeast Asia research director for Amnesty International.
( What surprises me hier is this, if you pick up a King Cobra you must expect to get bitten and run the chance to die, makes common sense, at least to me, so play with fire and you run the chance you will get burned, makes sense, at least to me. Come to Indonesia who has a hugh problem with drug abuse, people dying of drug-overdoses and related causes every day, with the government trying their level best to stem the inflow of narcotics into their harbours-airports and postal depots, and according to the local newspapers they are intercepting a hugh amount of the stuff, but they can't do this on their own. So laws have been drafted and penalties set, every country has that right, and that makes sense to me (at least) Neighbouring countries like Thailand Malaysia etc. have taken similar steps, they are having similar problems, so that makes sense to me (too), Now, if one has the desire to come to Indonesia to enjoy the beautiful scenery, people or delectable food, you will be welcome, but you will also be warned, "come in with that King Cobra ( read drugs hier) in your baggage, you will get bitten ( read cought hier), and if the bite has enough venom (read quantity of drugs) in it, you will die! Makes sense? It does to me! So why is Brazil, the Netherlands and all those countries who have convicted drug-dealers on death-row ( includes OZ) so mealy-mouthed about it? In Brazil there are daily multitudes of deaths drug related, be it shoot-outs with the cops, inter drug cartels and what have you, their citizen (Brazil's) broke the law so now he paid the prize, if he would have been shot by the cops in his own country, no-one would have heard about it! The same applies to the Netherlands-Australia and all those other nationalities who think that their drug dealers are above Indonesian law, my musings on that? GET REAL, PLAY RUSSIAN ROULETTE, PULL THE TRIGGER AND IF THE FIRINGPIN HITS THE BULLET YOU ARE HISTORY! ( ALL THIS SIk'S COMMENTS)
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zo 18 jan 2015 - 5:07