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Friday, Aug 06, 2004

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International

Jakarta ignores clemency pleas

JAKARTA, AUG. 5. A police firing squad on Thursday executed an Indian national found guilty of smuggling heroin into Indonesia — the first time Jakarta has carried out a death sentence since 2001.Ayodhay Prasad Chaubey's execution came despite pleas for clemency by the Indian Embassy, the European Union and the rights group Amnesty International, which had complained his trial fell short of international standards of fairness.

The execution was carried out at 0200 a.m. local time on Thursday in Medan city on Sumatra island, authorities said. ``Ayodhay was shot in the heart from a distance of 10 metres,'' said north Sumatra prosecutor chief Sudibyo Saleh. He was given an Islamic burial in the city shortly after the execution, state news agency Antara reported.

In an interview with SCTV television station hours before his execution, Mr. Ayodhay (67), complained he had been unfairly convicted and said he wanted to speak to Indonesia's Justice Minister.

`No evidence'

``Why am I being punished when there is no evidence?'' he said in fluent Indonesian. ``I am just a normal man, I can only live once.''

Mr. Ayodhay was arrested along with two Thai nationals in Medan in 1994 after airport officials confiscated 12 kg of heroin. All three were sentenced to death in 1996. The two Thai nationals remain on death row.

There are around 65 persons awaiting execution in Indonesia. Many are nationals of African and Asian countries sentenced over drug offences. Indonesia last carried out an execution in 2001, when it killed two local people found guilty of murder. They were the first state killings in five years. The President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is seeking re-election in September, has vowed to get tough on drug smugglers.

— AP

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