TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Tedjo Purdijatno said the executions of ten drug convicts on death row would take place this week.
He explained the planned executions had been postponed for a week pending a Supreme Court ruling on the judicial review lodged by another condemned drug convict from the Philippines, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.
"We are waiting for the verdict, which is likely to come out this week," Tedjo said on Monday, March 9, 2015 at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He added actually it was not compulsory for the government to wait for the ruling to set the date of the executions.
The minister explained the government’s putting off the executions was a gesture of respect to the legal measures taken by Veloso.
“Because the legal process of one of the convicts has not been completed yet, so we have to wait until it finishes,” he said.
Tedjo also asserted that the government would not call off the executions despite relentless pressures from the convicts’ countries of origin, including Australia.
Tedjo said the government respected the endeavors made by the foreign countries to defend their citizens on death row overseas, but reiterated that Indonesia would proceed with the executions.
Tedjo added that Australia should be thankful to Indonesia for foiling the attempted smuggling of first-class crystal meth from Indonesia to Australia committed by the latter’s own citizens, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
“Such amount will create at least four million new addicts,” Tedjo said.
ADDI MAWAHIBUN IDHOM | BC
