REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The nine drug convicts on death row will be executed at the same time and place, Attorney General HM Prasetyo stated here on Tuesday.
"The nine death row convicts will be executed simultaneously, and so, no one will wait or lineup" he noted here at the Presidential Palace.
He affirmed that the nine convicts belong to Brazil, Nigeria, Cordova, Ghana, Indonesia, and the Philippines, among others.
On the occasion, he expressed hope that their lawyers could tender an explanation to their clients that all their legal rights have been met, and so, they were not deprived of any rights.
"They should be able to give an explanation when they receive the requests for seeking other legal efforts that all legal avenues have been explored, and their rights have been met. Hence, nothing could be done, which means that they would only buy time (if they did)," he pointed out.
He remarked that after their clemency pleas were turned down, all avenues had been exhausted as seeking clemency meant that they had confessed to being guilty, and therefore, had sought presidential pardon. Hence, thereafter, no other avenue was available.
The Attorney General had not yet announced when the execution will exactly be carried out but promised that he will do it as soon as possible.
"What is important is that no parties may pressurize to postpone or moreover cancel it because postponement or cancellation will project a weak image of Indonesia with regard to handling narcotic cases," he affirmed.
Regarding security threats ahead of the execution, Attorney General Prasetyo emphasized that security had now been tightened.
"This is not a nice job, but we must do it to save the nation from the narcotic drug clout," he affirmed.
Regarding threats that several countries will recall their ambassadors, Prasetyo said he would let them do it, but he believed that it would not happen.
"Friendly countries respect each other's legal sovereignty. What we are fighting against are not their countries but their crimes, which are very serious, and unless they are harshly dealt with, they could impact Indonesia," he stated.
The nine convicts currently facing execution are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Australia; Raheem Agbaje Salami, Silvester Obiekwe Nwaolise, alias Mustofa, and Okwudili Oyatanze from Nigeria; Zainal Abidin from Indonesia; Rodrigo Gularte from Brazil; Martin Anderson, alias Belo, from Ghana; and Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso from the Philippines.
Meanwhile, French citizen Serge Areski Atlaoui has evaded the second round of executions as a judicial review of his case is still ongoing at the State Administrative Court (PTUN).
Spokesman for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) Tony Tribagus Spontana emphasized here on Monday that the delay in Atlaoui's execution was not due to pressure from the French Government.
"It is not because of pressure from the French president," he affirmed.
Challenging his death sentence, the French national filed a review petition just before the April 23 deadline.
"He registered the review petition in the last minute, just before the deadline ended at 4 p.m. local time, on Thursday, April 23," Spontana pointed out.
As the AGO respects the legal process, it has decided to exclude Atlaoui from the list of convicts to be executed, he added.
If the PTUN rejects his appeal, he will be executed as planned, the spokesman observed.
The nine death row convicts, who will be facing a firing squad in the second batch of executions, have already been moved to the isolation rooms of the Nusakambangan prison for execution in Central Java.
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