INDONESIA DECLARES STATE OF DRUG EMERGENCY, SHOWS NO MERCY by Fardah

    Jakarta, Jan 20, 2015 (Antara) - The recent execution of six drug offenders by the Indonesian authorities has triggered criticism from a number of countries, particularly the Brazilian and Dutch governments whose citizens were among the inmates facing a firing squad.

        The six drug convicts, including five foreigners, were executed early on January 18 morning, after their demand for clemency was rejected by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

        The five foreigners were respectively Dutch citizen Ang Kim Soei, 62, Malawian Namaona Denis, 48, Brazilian national Marco Archer Cardoso Mareira, 53, Nigerian Daniel Enemua, 38, and Vietnamese national Tran Thi Bich Hanh 37.

        Following the execution, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors from Indonesia to demonstrate their protest.

        AFP reported that a  spokesman for the Brazilian president, Dilma Roussef, said she was "distressed and outraged" after Indonesia ignored her last-ditch pleas and put to death Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, who was convicted of smuggling cocaine into Indonesia in 2004.

        "Using the death penalty, which is increasingly rejected by the international community, seriously affects relations between our countries," the spokesman said in a statement on Jan. 18.

        Meanwhile, the Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, said the Netherlands had also recalled its ambassador over the execution of Dutchman Ang Kiem Soei, and in a statement described all six deaths as "terribly sad".

         "My heart goes out to their families, for whom this marks a dramatic end to years of uncertainty," Koenders said.

         The Netherlands remains opposed to the death penalty.

    The Dutch monarch, Willem-Alexander, and prime minister Mark Rutte had been in contact with the Indonesian president about the matter, he said, and the government had done "all in its power" to try to halt the execution, AFP reported.

         After the execution of the six foreigners, the Indonesian attorney general said there are still 60 more inmates, around half of them are foreigners, on death row.    
   In anticipation of the next execution that might include two Australian inmates, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop Australia said her country could recall its ambassador to Indonesia if Jakarta executes two Australian citizens convicted of drug trafficking, Reuters reported.

        Australia has been seeking clemency for the two members of the so-called Bali Nine, who were arrested in 2005 on charges of smuggling heroin into Australia, but Bishop said Indonesia had not been receptive to its pleas.  
   The Australian government, through Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julia Bishop, has been reported as having intensively lobbied the Indonesian government, through President Jokowi and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, to spare their citizens facing death penalty over narcotic drug trafficking crimes in Indonesia.

        Earlier, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said death penalty for the six people was regrettable.

       "The EU is opposed to capital punishment without exception and has consistently called for its universal abolition. Death penalty is cruel and inhuman; it fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity," Mogherini, who is also the Vice-President of the European Commission, said in a press statement recently.

         The European Union called on the Indonesian authorities to stop all pending executions and consider establishing a moratorium on death penalty as a first step towards definitive abolition, he added.

        Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno P Marsudi said on Jan. 20 that the decision of the Netherlands and Brazil to recall their ambassadors for consultation was their right. The minister  believed that Indonesia's relations with those countries are fine.

         The government is intensifying communication with Brazil and the Netherlands through the Indonesian ambassadors in both countries.

        "This does not disrupt our bilateral ties with Brazil and the Netherlands. They have recalled their ambassadors to consult, not to withdraw them," Arrmanatha Nasir, the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, said.

       "The recall for a consultation is reasonable, and it is the right of every state to defend its citizens who were threatened or sentenced to death abroad," Nasir asserted.

        Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry stated that the execution of the six drug convicts had been carried out in line with international standards.

        "In terms of law, the executions have been done against a vicious crime, namely narcotic drug trafficking. Its implementation has also been carried out according to international law principles," Arrmanatha Nasir said.

        Indonesian Vice President M Jusuf Kalla also believed that the execution of foreign inmates facing death penalty for drug offence will not affect Indonesia's bilateral ties with the foreign nationals' respective countries.

        Conversing with journalists on Jan. 19. Kalla noted that the decision by the Dutch and Brazilian governments to recall their ambassadors was a reasonable move, but it will not disrupt the two countries' diplomatic relations with Indonesia.

        "We had even done the same thing when we recalled our ambassador to Australia for the time being. This did not disrupt our relationship (with Australia). Recalling the ambassador is largely related to domestic interests," he remarked.

         Vice President Jusuf Kalla affirmed that the envoys from several foreign embassies had met him for talks regarding the execution of six death row inmates.

         The foreign envoys had been updated regarding Indonesia's stance on that matter, he stated, adding that they had been called on to respect the decision that Indonesia had taken in its efforts to combat drug trafficking in the country.

        "The drug dealers have also violated human rights," Jusuf Kalla noted.

        President Jokowi defended his policy by saying that Indonesia is in a state of drug emergency as some 50 drug addicts die daily, or 18 thousand annually in the country.

         Indonesia has 4.5 million drug addicts who need rehabilitation.  Some 1.2 million drug addicts are in such a dire condition that rehabilitation is no longer an option for them.       
    "There are 64 (drug-related) inmates who are on death row. They have sought clemency, but we have rejected all, despite pressures from all quarters," he said in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on Jan. 20, 2015.

        The president affirmed that the government will adopt stern measures against drug offenders and will refuse to grant them clemency.

         Attorney General H. M. Prasetyo confirmed that 60 inmates convicted in major crimes are on Indonesia's death penalty list.

         There are still some 50 to 60 inmates on death row in Indonesia, Prasetyo stated on Jan 20, on the sidelines of a meeting with Indonesian editors in chief.

        Despite protests from a number of countries, Indonesia will proceed with its plan to execute these convicts, he added.

        "We will not step back. We must move forward. Indonesia must be saved," he remarked. ***2***
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(T.F001/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 20-01-2015 23:12:26