Two Nigerians executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking with three more expected

TWO Nigerians have been executed in Indonesia for drug smuggling offences as part of the Southeast Asian nation's hardline crackdown on the narcotics trade that has resulted in several high profile executions lately.

 

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia has made dealing with drug dealers a major policy of his administration and since assuming office, he has adopted a very hardline stance. Earlier today, two Nigerians were among four people executed by firing squad after being convicted of drug dealing.

Deputy attorney-general for general crimes, Noor Rachmad, said that 10 other drug convicts, who had been expected to face the firing squad, would soon be executed too. Earlier today, two Nigerians, one Senegalese and one Indonesian were shot at the Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap in Central Java.

 

However, the island was hit by a major storm as the executions took place, which may have delayed the carrying out of the other sentences. Three more Nigerians are expected to be executed between now and Saturday, according to Amnesty International.

Mr Rachmad, said: “The executions were for now conducted on four convicts on death row. This is not a fun job and for us, this is really a sad job because it involves people’s lives.

“This was done not in order to take lives but to stop evil intentions and the evil act of drug trafficking.”

 

Phelim Kine, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, added: “President Jokowi should acknowledge the death penalty’s barbarity and avoid a potential diplomatic firestorm by sparing the lives of the 14 or more people facing imminent execution.  Jokowi should also ban the death penalty for drug crimes, which international law prohibits, rather than giving the go-ahead for more multiple executions.”

 

Amnesty International added that the president will be putting his government on the wrong side of history if he proceeds with a fresh round of executions. According to the organisation 14 people will face the firing squad this weekend, including Indonesians, a Pakistani, an Indian, a Zimbabwean, a Senegalese, a South African and five Nigerians.

 

However, the Indonesian government insists the country faces a drug emergency that requires tough measures. Its all-out war on illegal drugs has already seen a large number of executions in recent years, with 14 drug convicts facing the firing squad in 2015, six in January and another eight in April.

 

Under the administration of former leader President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a total of 21 convicts were executed between 2005 and 2013. Indonesia’s prosecutors have always stressed that only death row convicts who have exhausted all legal avenues are put on the execution list.