Authorities In Constitutional Breach if Drug Executions Continue: Rights Group
Jakarta. Indonesian authorities would be in constitutional breach if they press ahead with the likely imminent execution of death row inmates amid indecision over clemency appeals, a Jakarta-based legal rights group said.
All 14 drug-related inmates including ten foreign nationals have been moved to the prison island of Nusakambangan off Central Java's Cilacap.
Three Africans and an Indonesian drug trafficker, Freddy Budiman, were killed by firing squad on early Friday (29/07).
Six of the death row convicts are currently in the process of appealing for clemency to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who is yet to issue a finding.
"The death penalty could not be imposed before a presidential decree on the rejection of a clemency appeal is received by a convict," Erasmus Napitupulu of the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform said, referring to a provision under the 2002 law on clemency, which is affirmed under a 2015 verdict from the Constitutional Court.
"The executions would be a form of legal breach and disobedience of the constitution," Erasmus said. "All legal avenues could be taken against prosecutors and the president if they still continue with the executions."
The execution has drawn the ire of human rights activists both in Indonesia and abroad, while the government has called on the international community to respect the legal process in the country.
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