Tangerang to execute 3 on death-row

The Tangerang Prosecutor’s Office announced on Tuesday three of the 25 foreign nationals on death-row for drug smuggling would face the firing squad in the near future.

“We have prepared for the execution in coordination with relevant ministries, the embassies and the families,” the head of the general crime division, Andi DJ Konggoasa, told The Jakarta Post.

Malawi national Namaona Dennis and Muhammad Abdul Hafeez of Pakistani were arrested in separate cases for smuggling heroin through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in 2001, while Marcho Archer Cordova Moreira from Brazil was convicted for smuggling cocaine into the country from Peru in 2004.

“They have taken up all kinds of legal efforts to reduce the sentence, starting from filing appeals and case review requests with the Supreme Court to asking for a presidential pardon, but to no avail,” Andi said.

However, he said, the defense lawyers and embassy representatives of Dennis and Hafeez have written to prosecutors request a stay of execution for humanitarian reasons.

Andi said the convicts had submitted their last wishes ahead of the planned execution. Dennis and Hafeez asked for a chance to meet their families, while Moreira requested a bottle of Chivas Regal blended Scotch whiskey.

“We have submitted their final requests to the Attorney General’s Office and we are still waiting for the response as well as confirmation on where the execution, which is expected to take place early next month, will be held,” he said.

(Published by The Jakarta Post - June 22, 2012)