The Australian government says it is “gravely concerned” by apparent preparations for the executions of 10 drug smugglers.
A Filipino maid facing the death penalty after being convicted of drug trafficking was moved yesterday to an island prison in Indonesia where the execution will take place.
Mary Jane Veloso is among 10 drug smugglers whose planned executions last month were postponed due to last-minute appeals. The others are three Nigerian men, two Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and a man each from Brazil, Ghana, France and Indonesia.
An armoured personnel carrier and a car were seen arriving at a port on Friday for the short trip to Nusa Kambangan, and prison officials said Veloso was inside the car. Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general, confirmed that Veloso had been moved.
Warren Truss, the Australian deputy prime minister, said on Friday: “I am aware of growing concerns that these executions may now be being brought forward. The Australian embassy is endeavouring to gather as much information as they can so that we are better able to respond to the circumstances.
“Our position, obviously, hasn’t changed. We are appealing and will continue to appeal to the Indonesian government not to proceed with these executions. We abhor the drug trade but the death penalty is also unacceptable to Australians. That’s a message we have conveyed in the past and will continue to do so, so long as there’s hope.”
A spokesperson for Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said she had “made contact with Indonesian foreign minister Marsudi to register her concern at recent developments, following her further written representation to her this week.”
“Minister Bishop has been informed that foreign minister Marsudi is attending the Asia-Africa conference and is unavailable to speak with her. Therefore, our embassy has lodged a formal request for a telephone call to take place.”
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Appeals have been exhausted for all but one of the 10, Raheem Agbaje Salami of Nigeria, who is awaiting the outcome of his request for a judicial review.
Salami’s lawyer confirmed on Thursday that the Nigerian embassy had received a letter asking it to go to Cilacap, the port closest to the execution site, on Saturday. Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte’s lawyer confirmed that the Brazilian embassy had received the same letter.
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“Based on experience from the previous execution, they’re going to tell them the date for the execution,” Salami’s lawyer said.
“Last time when we were asked to gather in the district prosecutor’s office we were then taken to Nusa Kambangan to tell the convict about the execution time,” he said. “And three days after that, they were executed.”
Indonesian officials have not said when the executions by firing squad will take place. Indonesia has vowed to go through with the executions despite various appeals from the countries of the convicted.
Veloso’s case has caused a public outcry in the Philippines. She travelled to Indonesia in 2010 where her godmother’s daughter reportedly told her a job as domestic worker awaited her. She alleges that her godsister provided the suitcase where the drugs were discovered when Veloso arrived at an airport in Java, Indonesia.
Her move to the island prison comes after Indonesia’s supreme court earlier this week turned down the final appeals by prisoners from France and Ghana.
The appeals for judicial review by Serge Areski Atlaoui of France and Martin Anderson of Ghana were rejected by Indonesia’s highest court in closed-door hearings on Tuesday, said Suhadi, the court spokesman and a member of the three-judge panel.
Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran, two of the so-called “Bali Nine”, have lodged a new appeal in the constitutional court but the attorney general says the pair have exhausted their legal avenues and he will not recognise the latest action.
Spontana confirmed reports on Thursday that his office had sent letters to prosecutors advising them to prepare for the executions.
Asked if a date was set, he replied: “Up to tonight, not yet.”
The letters asked prosecutors to make preparations and were not the notification letters for the convicts themselves, he said.
The planned executions have soured relations between Indonesia and other countries. President Joko Widodo has vowed not to grant mercy to drug offenders because Indonesia is suffering a “drug emergency”.
In Paris, the French president François Hollande urged Indonesian authorities to grant clemency to Atlaoui, telling a news conference that executing Atlaoui “would be damaging for the relations we want to have with Indonesia”.
Jakarta executed six drug convicts, including five foreigners, in January, brushing aside last-minute appeals from Brazil and the Netherlands. More than 130 people are on death row in Indonesia, including 57 drug convicts.
Indonesia is required to give 72 hours’ notice of the executions.
