With the recent “changing of the guards” from former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to current president Joko Widodo, we’ve all been wondering what will come of the many convicts on death row.
After hearing from numerous members of the administration but not Jokowi himself, the president finally spoke publicly on his capital punishment position yesterday at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
Jokowi stated that he has ruled out issuing pardons for any drug convicts on death row, reports the Guardian. This means the two Australian Bali Nine inmates currently held in Kerobokan Prison, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will not be pardoned.
“I will reject clemency request submitted by 64 death [row inmates] convicted of drugs cases,” Jokowi said yesterday at UGM, as quoted by the Guardian.
The two Bali Nine convicts have reportedly had a clemency request before the president’s office for over two years.
Jokowi said most of the prisoners had “destroyed the future of the nation,” according to Kompas, and that denying clemency is “important shock therapy” for drug dealers, traffickers, and users.
Along with Chan and Sukumaran, more than 60 other drug prisoners will reporteldy face the firing squad.
This news cannot bode well with the kiwi recently arrested with 1.7 kilograms of meth in his backpack in Bali’s airport.
Photo by AFP
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