INDONESIA EXECUTES FOREIGNERS BY FIRING SQUAD

Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their
ambassadors from Indonesia and
expressed fury Sunday after Jakarta defied
their pleas and executed six convicted
drugs offenders by firing squad, including
two of their citizens.
Convicts from Vietnam, Malawi and
Nigeria, and one Indonesian, were also
among those put to death just after
midnight, the first executions carried out
under new President Joko Widodo.
Indonesia has tough anti-drugs laws and
Widodo, who took office in October, has
disappointed rights activists by voicing
support for capital punishment despite his
image as a reformist.
A spokesman for Brazilian President Dilma
Roussef said she was "distressed and
outraged" after Indonesia ignored her last-
ditch pleas and put to death Marco Archer
Cardoso Moreira, who was convicted of
smuggling cocaine into Indonesia in 2004.
"Using the death penalty, which is
increasingly rejected by the international
community, seriously affects relations
between our countries," the spokesman
said in a statement.
The Brazilian ambassador to Jakarta was
being recalled for consultations, the
spokesman added.
Meanwhile Dutch Foreign Minister Bert
Koenders said the Netherlands had also
recalled its ambassador over the execution
of Dutchman Ang Kiem Soei, and
described all six deaths as "terribly sad" in
a statement.
"My heart goes out to their families, for
whom this marks a dramatic end to years
of uncertainty," Koenders said. "The
Netherlands remains opposed to the death
penalty."
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime
Minister Mark Rutte had been in contact
with the Indonesian president about the
matter, he said, and the government had
done "all in its power" to attempt to halt
the execution.
IN LINE WITH THE LAW
However a spokesman for the office of
Indonesia's attorney general, Tony
Spontana, insisted the executions were in
line with Indonesian law.
"We carried this out in accordance with
our laws," he told AFP. "We have been
given the authority to carry out the
court's verdict and it is wrong if we fail to
do so."
All the prisoners, who had been
sentenced to death between 2000 and
2011, were executed around the same
time shortly after midnight, Spontana
said.
The 53-year-old Brazilian, who was
caught with drugs stashed in the frame of
his paraglider at Jakarta airport, and
Dutchman, 62, were executed on
Nusakambangan Island, home to a high-
security prison, off the coast of the main
island of Java.
A Nigerian, Daniel Enemuo; Namaona
Denis, from Malawi; and an Indonesian
woman, Rani Andriani, were executed at
the same location.
The sixth convict, Vietnamese woman
Tran Thi Bich Hanh, was executed in
Boyolali district in central Java.
They were all caught attempting to
smuggle drugs apart from the Dutchman,
who was sentenced to death for operating
a huge factory producing ecstasy.
All of them had their appeals for clemency
to the president — their last chance to
avoid the firing squad — rejected last
month.
Jakarta had an unofficial moratorium on
executions for several years from 2008 but
resumed capital punishment again in
2013. There were no executions last year.
Widodo, known as Jokowi, has taken a
particularly hard line towards people on
death row for narcotics offences, insisting
they will not receive a presidential pardon
as Indonesia is facing an "emergency" due
to high levels of drug use.
Following Sunday's executions, the
number of people on death row in
Indonesia for drugs-related offences stood
at 60, around half of whom are
foreigners, said a spokesman for the
national narcotics agency.
Widodo's tough stance has sparked
concern for other foreigners sentenced to
death, particularly two Australians who
were part of the "Bali Nine" group caught
trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia
in 2005.
One of the pair, Myuran Sukumaran, also
had his clemency appeal rejected last
month but authorities say he will be
executed with fellow Australian Andrew
Chan as they committed their crime
together.
Chan is still awaiting the outcome of his
clemency appeal.