ID :
15257
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 08:39
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https://www.oananews.org//node/15257
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News Focus: ANOTHER DELAY POSSIBLE IN AMROZI ET AL'S EXECUTION
By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, Aug 7 (ANTARA) - The execution of convicted Bali I bombers Amrozi et al may be subject to a further delay following their action in filing a request with the Constitutional Court (MK) for a judicial review of the existing law on how death penalties should be carried out.
"The execution of Amrozi et al should be stayed pending a decision from the Constitutional Court," a member of the Muslim Lawyers Team (TPM), Wirawan Adnan, said on Wednesday.
Amid public expectations that Amrozi and friends would be executed soon, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) also called on law enforcers to postpone the implementation of their death sentences.
"The legal initiative they have taken must be respected. We would be a ludicrous situation, if their suit is accepted by the Constitutional Court while they are no longer alive," Komnas Ham commissioner Nurcholis said.
Expectations at home and abroad for the executions of the death-row convicts have been high in the past few weeks following a statement by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji that Amrozi et al would be executed soon, before the fasting month of Ramadhan which begins in September.
Amrozi (45), Imam Samudera (39) and Mukhlas or Ali Ghufron (48) were sentenced to death by the Denpasar district court in Bali for their roles in the Bali bombings in October 2002 which killed 202 people.
Last month, Attorney General Supandji said that convicted Bali bombers Amrozi and friends could already be executed as their third appeal for a judicial review of their death sentences had been rejected.
With the rejection of their third appeal and their refusal to ask for clemency, there were practically no longer any legal avenues the bombers could use to prevent their executions. "In juridical sense, Amrozi's death penalty can now be carried out," the attorney general told journalists.
Yet, Wednesday's request for a judicial review of the Law on Procedures for Implementation of the Death Penalty may serve as a reason for the authorities to delay the executions. After all, following the request, calls on law enforcers to defer the implementation of the death penalties were thereafter made soon.
The Komnas Ham said on Wednesday that the execution of Amrozi et al should be postponed because the death-row convicts were still filing a judicial review with the Constitutional Court.
In the meantime, the Coalition for Abolishment of Capital Punishment (HATI) regretted the attitude of Komnas Ham because it had not yet taken a firm stand on the death penalty as well as on the executions of death convicts in the country of late.
HATI -- which is composed of Kontras (Commission of Missing People and Victims of Violence), LBH (Legal Aid Institute), Imparsial and Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) -- expressed its regret when it met with Komnas Ham on Wednesday.
Choirul Anam of the HRWG said that the government had executed six death-row convicts this year alone. "The president has also rejected requests for clemency from 39 narcotics convicts who are now on death row," he added.
On HATI's call, Nurcholis said Komnas Ham's stand on the death sentences of Amrozi et al and Rio "Martil," (another convict on death row for murdering a lawyer in Central Java) would be decided on August 12, 2008 when the Commission would hold a plenary session.
"The Komnas Ham will take an official stand on the death penalty on August 12, 2008," Norcholis said.
It was reported earlier that Amrozi et al had filed a judicial review with the MK on Law No.2/PNPS/1969 on Procedures for Implementation of the the Death Penalty which their lawyers said was against the 1945 Constitution.
The convicts' lawyer, Wirawan Adnan from the TPM, told reporters the request for a judicial review was made as the law was against Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution.
Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution says that the rights to life, the freedom from torture, freedom of thought and conscience, freedom of religion, freedom from enslavement, recognition as a person before the law, and the right not to be tried under a law with retrospective effect are all human rights that cannot be limited under any circumstances.
The law on the procedures for implementation of the death penalty, according to Adnan, among other stipulates that the firing squad must aim at the prisoner's heart, and - if the prisoner is still alive, fire again at the prisoner's temples.
"This means the law is inhuman and against Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution," he said.
Thus, he said, the execution of Amrozi et al should be stayed pending a decision from the Constitutional Court.
Jakarta, Aug 7 (ANTARA) - The execution of convicted Bali I bombers Amrozi et al may be subject to a further delay following their action in filing a request with the Constitutional Court (MK) for a judicial review of the existing law on how death penalties should be carried out.
"The execution of Amrozi et al should be stayed pending a decision from the Constitutional Court," a member of the Muslim Lawyers Team (TPM), Wirawan Adnan, said on Wednesday.
Amid public expectations that Amrozi and friends would be executed soon, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) also called on law enforcers to postpone the implementation of their death sentences.
"The legal initiative they have taken must be respected. We would be a ludicrous situation, if their suit is accepted by the Constitutional Court while they are no longer alive," Komnas Ham commissioner Nurcholis said.
Expectations at home and abroad for the executions of the death-row convicts have been high in the past few weeks following a statement by Attorney General Hendarman Supandji that Amrozi et al would be executed soon, before the fasting month of Ramadhan which begins in September.
Amrozi (45), Imam Samudera (39) and Mukhlas or Ali Ghufron (48) were sentenced to death by the Denpasar district court in Bali for their roles in the Bali bombings in October 2002 which killed 202 people.
Last month, Attorney General Supandji said that convicted Bali bombers Amrozi and friends could already be executed as their third appeal for a judicial review of their death sentences had been rejected.
With the rejection of their third appeal and their refusal to ask for clemency, there were practically no longer any legal avenues the bombers could use to prevent their executions. "In juridical sense, Amrozi's death penalty can now be carried out," the attorney general told journalists.
Yet, Wednesday's request for a judicial review of the Law on Procedures for Implementation of the Death Penalty may serve as a reason for the authorities to delay the executions. After all, following the request, calls on law enforcers to defer the implementation of the death penalties were thereafter made soon.
The Komnas Ham said on Wednesday that the execution of Amrozi et al should be postponed because the death-row convicts were still filing a judicial review with the Constitutional Court.
In the meantime, the Coalition for Abolishment of Capital Punishment (HATI) regretted the attitude of Komnas Ham because it had not yet taken a firm stand on the death penalty as well as on the executions of death convicts in the country of late.
HATI -- which is composed of Kontras (Commission of Missing People and Victims of Violence), LBH (Legal Aid Institute), Imparsial and Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) -- expressed its regret when it met with Komnas Ham on Wednesday.
Choirul Anam of the HRWG said that the government had executed six death-row convicts this year alone. "The president has also rejected requests for clemency from 39 narcotics convicts who are now on death row," he added.
On HATI's call, Nurcholis said Komnas Ham's stand on the death sentences of Amrozi et al and Rio "Martil," (another convict on death row for murdering a lawyer in Central Java) would be decided on August 12, 2008 when the Commission would hold a plenary session.
"The Komnas Ham will take an official stand on the death penalty on August 12, 2008," Norcholis said.
It was reported earlier that Amrozi et al had filed a judicial review with the MK on Law No.2/PNPS/1969 on Procedures for Implementation of the the Death Penalty which their lawyers said was against the 1945 Constitution.
The convicts' lawyer, Wirawan Adnan from the TPM, told reporters the request for a judicial review was made as the law was against Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution.
Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution says that the rights to life, the freedom from torture, freedom of thought and conscience, freedom of religion, freedom from enslavement, recognition as a person before the law, and the right not to be tried under a law with retrospective effect are all human rights that cannot be limited under any circumstances.
The law on the procedures for implementation of the death penalty, according to Adnan, among other stipulates that the firing squad must aim at the prisoner's heart, and - if the prisoner is still alive, fire again at the prisoner's temples.
"This means the law is inhuman and against Article 28i point 1 of the 1945 Constitution," he said.
Thus, he said, the execution of Amrozi et al should be stayed pending a decision from the Constitutional Court.
