Tag: Bali

Facing mounting criticism for helping Indonesia execute Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police held a press conference today to discuss the AFP's role in the arrest of the Bali Nine. [More....]

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, already getting justly raked over the coals of international opinion, isn't doing any better at home. The editorial in the Jakarta Globe yesterday, hours before the executions, concludes he was hoodwinked by his aides (which doesn't say much for his leadership ability) and that the executions are not in Indonesia's best interest:

With regards to the planned executions, we doubt that such action is really aimed at creating deterrence. We are afraid that it was born out of political strategy of people surrounding Joko, and the president might be only a victim of his aides who provided him with false data and arguments.

It goes on to oppose the executions and say they have nothing to do with the problem of drugs in Indonesia: [More...]

Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Noer Ali says Indonesia used 1,400 police personnel to secure the executions of the 8 non-violent drug offenders yesterday. This doesn't include military personnel who were also involved.

As I've written before, Indonesia was obsessed with security, to the point where they used four fighter jets armed with sidewinder missiles and a fully equipped navy warship to move the two Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan from one island to another. [More...]

Indonesia President Joko Widodo is in the doghouse. Leaders all over the world are condemning Indonesia's executions today.

Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott has recalled their Ambassador to Indonesia. [More...]

Update: Thumbing its nose at the world, Indonesia executed eight drug offenders tonight, including two models of rehabilitation, Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso was spared, but only temporarily, after the woman who recruited her to act as a drug courier gave herself up to police in the Philippines. Her government said she was the victim of human trafficking and today said she is needed as a witness against her recruiter. Indonesia says her execution has been temporarily delayed so she can testify against the trafficker. [More...]

Sunday it seemed French citizen Serge Atresi Atlaoui of France had gotten a stay of execution. The court denied his appeal Monday. It's not clear if he will be executed today with the others, or if he'll just sit in the isolation cell a bit longer.

There will be at least 7 executions tonight, just after midnight (Wednesday), including Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Mary Jane Veloso. It's not clear if Rodrigo Gularte, the mentally ill Brazilian will be among them.

The press won't be notified of the executions until after they have taken place. Myuram's mother says the killings will take place at midnight Indonesian time.

They will be taken to a shooting field, offered a last cigarette, and then a target will be placed over their hearts as the firing squad shoots away. [More...]

The frenchman on Death Row got a last minute reprieve over an administrative matter. That leaves 9 who will be killed and the date is set for Wednesday. The coffins are in and the mortician was hand-stenciling the date "4/29/15 into them.

Australia is claiming the judges were bribed to vote for death and it wants the investigation completed before the 8 men and 1 woman are killed. It's doubtful that would happen.[More...]

Bali 9 inmates Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have received their official notification that they will be executed imminently -- as soon as Tuesday. Indonesian law requires they be notified at least 72 hours before the killings.

Another inmate waiting for her final appeal was also moved to the Death Island today, after the decision in her case was announced.

Ten inmates in all are scheduled for execution , 9 of whom are foreigners convicted of non-violent drug offenses. All will face the firing squad together. (Correction: Not all 10 of those scheduled for execution received notices. French citizen Serge Areski Atlaoui and Nigerian citizen Raheem Agbaje Salami still have appeals pending. Brazilian citizen Rodrigo Gularte is still waiting the outcome of his mental health assessment. The lone Indonesian in the group, Zainal Abidin bin Mgs Mahmud Badarudin, also has a pending appeal. [More...]

In January, I wrote about Nicholas Langan, a 24 year old painter and Australian citizen who went to Bali for a surfing holiday and got arrested for smoking a joint on the beach after dinner. Total amount of pot recovered: Less than 1 gram (about as much as in a packet of Splenda.)

The prosecutor yesterday finalized the charges against Langan, and as anticipated, is asking for a 12 year sentence. (The penalty for simple drug possession in Bali (as opposed to trafficking for which the death penalty is authorized) is 4 to 12 years in prison. (Using drugs carries an additional 5 year penalty.)

Langan, who has been held in a police jail pending the filing of formal charges, will now be moved to Kerobokan, the island's hellhole prison, filled with local murderers, rapists and thieves, in addition to foreign drug offenders. [More...]

The headline of an article in Australia's The Independent today reads:

Welcome to 'Execution Island' – the Indonesian holiday resort where foreigners are sent to die

I can't remember another case when the media around the world, in news articles, not just commentary, used such strong words in reporting on an upcoming execution, as it has with Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. [More...]

Just another day in Paradise. Escorted by two fighter jets carrying live missiles, commercial budget airline Wings Air, owned by Lion Air, today flew Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Bali to Cilacap, where they were then taken by ferry to Nusakambangan, Indonesia’s death island where within days, they and 8 other convicted drug offenders will be driven at midnight to a killing field, tied to wooden posts and shot to death simultaneously.

According to news reports, Andrew and Myuran were silent as they were led to an armored vehicle to be taken to the airport, but thanked the guards as they left for their treatment during the decade they spent at Bali's hellhole Kerobokan prison.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott says "We are frankly revolted." He says there's little chance of a change of heart, and Indonesia is just digging in its heels. [More...]

Indonesia President Joko Widodo has rejected Austrialian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plea for mercy for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, which was made by telephone call earlier in the week.

In an interview with daily business newspaper Kontan on Friday, the President reiterated that he would not commute the sentences imposed on drug traffickers as the country was in a state of emergency caused by drug abuse. He insisted that the executions of the convicts would go ahead as scheduled. On Thursday, the government had initially kept silent after Abbott issued his statement.

“Our position is clear: our laws cannot be interfered with,” the newspaper quoted Jokowi as saying.

In West Java (Indonesia's death island and killing fields are in Central Java) the locals have taken to burning car and motorcycle thieves alive (called lynchings), saying prison isn't an acceptable punishment, because when they get out, they'll steal again.[More...]