Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 8, 2006 2:13:33 GMT -5
Australia to Seek Clemency for Citizens on Indonesia's Death Row
Australian officials are expressing concern over death sentences handed to
six of its citizens in Indonesian for drug smuggling. Indonesia's use of
the death penalty is a cause of concern in Australia, which does not
execute criminals.
Australians serving prison terms in Indonesia for heroin trafficking
including Scott Rush, 20, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and
Matthew Norman, 19, during their trials in Bali Australian officials urged
clemency Thursday for 6 of its citizens facing the death penalty in
Indonesia for drug trafficking.
Indonesia confirmed Wednesday that the Supreme Court had rejected an
appeal by 4 Australians, instead handing down even harsher sentences.
The four were among nine people convicted last year of trying to smuggle
heroin to Australia.
The 2 leaders of the trafficking ring have already been sentenced to
death, and their sentences upheld.
2 others in the group face life sentences and the ninth member is serving
a 20-year sentence.
The Australians now have two legal options. One is a judicial review, used
if there is new evidence or the judge was in error. The second is a direct
appeal for clemency to the Indonesian president.
Steven Barraclough, spokesperson for the Australian Embassy in Jakarta,
says his country has voiced objections to the use of capital punishment
throughout the case and would appeal for clemency.
"The Australian government would support sentences being reduced to
custodial terms if the death penalty still stood at the end of the appeals
process and they applied for clemency," said Barraclough. "So at the right
and appropriate time, we would seek presidential clemency."
Tim Lindsey is the director of the Asian Law Center. He says it is also
possible to call for a constitutional review to evaluate if capital
punishment violates Indonesia's constitution. Such a move could delay the
executions for a few years.
But Lindsay says the group's sentences are not particularly harsh or
unusual in Indonesia.
"These people are receiving sentences that, whether you like them or not,
are in the range," he said. "And they're not particularly complex cases,
the evidence is overwhelming, all the positive aspects of the Indonesian
court system and all the negative inefficiencies and blunders of the
normal court system are being seen in these cases. There's nothing special
or unusual about any aspect of it in my view."
Harsh sentences handed to Australians in Indonesia have in the past caused
a public outcry in Australia, which does not administer capital
punishment.
Australians also accuse Indonesia of double standards, comparing the death
sentences to the jail terms handed down to extremists convicted of
bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005. Eighty-eight Australians died in the
2002 blasts, which killed 202 people, and 4 were among the 20 who died in
the 2005 bombings.
In June, Australia expressed its concern when Indonesia released a radical
Muslim cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings.
On Thursday a court in Bali sentenced 2 militants for their roles in the
2005 bombings. One was sentenced to 18 years in prison for assembling the
bombs and the other to 8 years for helping the mastermind of the attacks.
(source: Voice of America News)
Australian officials are expressing concern over death sentences handed to
six of its citizens in Indonesian for drug smuggling. Indonesia's use of
the death penalty is a cause of concern in Australia, which does not
execute criminals.
Australians serving prison terms in Indonesia for heroin trafficking
including Scott Rush, 20, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, 23, Si Yi Chen, 21, and
Matthew Norman, 19, during their trials in Bali Australian officials urged
clemency Thursday for 6 of its citizens facing the death penalty in
Indonesia for drug trafficking.
Indonesia confirmed Wednesday that the Supreme Court had rejected an
appeal by 4 Australians, instead handing down even harsher sentences.
The four were among nine people convicted last year of trying to smuggle
heroin to Australia.
The 2 leaders of the trafficking ring have already been sentenced to
death, and their sentences upheld.
2 others in the group face life sentences and the ninth member is serving
a 20-year sentence.
The Australians now have two legal options. One is a judicial review, used
if there is new evidence or the judge was in error. The second is a direct
appeal for clemency to the Indonesian president.
Steven Barraclough, spokesperson for the Australian Embassy in Jakarta,
says his country has voiced objections to the use of capital punishment
throughout the case and would appeal for clemency.
"The Australian government would support sentences being reduced to
custodial terms if the death penalty still stood at the end of the appeals
process and they applied for clemency," said Barraclough. "So at the right
and appropriate time, we would seek presidential clemency."
Tim Lindsey is the director of the Asian Law Center. He says it is also
possible to call for a constitutional review to evaluate if capital
punishment violates Indonesia's constitution. Such a move could delay the
executions for a few years.
But Lindsay says the group's sentences are not particularly harsh or
unusual in Indonesia.
"These people are receiving sentences that, whether you like them or not,
are in the range," he said. "And they're not particularly complex cases,
the evidence is overwhelming, all the positive aspects of the Indonesian
court system and all the negative inefficiencies and blunders of the
normal court system are being seen in these cases. There's nothing special
or unusual about any aspect of it in my view."
Harsh sentences handed to Australians in Indonesia have in the past caused
a public outcry in Australia, which does not administer capital
punishment.
Australians also accuse Indonesia of double standards, comparing the death
sentences to the jail terms handed down to extremists convicted of
bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005. Eighty-eight Australians died in the
2002 blasts, which killed 202 people, and 4 were among the 20 who died in
the 2005 bombings.
In June, Australia expressed its concern when Indonesia released a radical
Muslim cleric jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings.
On Thursday a court in Bali sentenced 2 militants for their roles in the
2005 bombings. One was sentenced to 18 years in prison for assembling the
bombs and the other to 8 years for helping the mastermind of the attacks.
(source: Voice of America News)