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Pasir Putih maximum security prison on Nusakambangan
Island, Central Java, where Indonesia has already carried
out several executions by firing squad. |
Indonesian authorities say it is very likely the two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Bali could be transferred this week in preparation for execution.
The head of the Bali prosecutor's office, Momock Bambang Samiarso, is in charge of arranging the transfer and told media the island prison where the men are to be executed is nearly ready to take them.
He said it was "very likely" Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran would be transferred there this week.
The two Bali Nine group members have been on death row since 2006.
They are attempting another legal challenge in Jakarta on Tuesday in an effort to force president Joko Widodo to reconsider their cases for clemency, but the Government has already indicated the case will not interrupt plans for the executions to continue.
Sukhoi jet squadron readied to guard transfer of Bali Nine death-row convicts
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Indonesian Sukhoi jets could be used for protective
support in the transfer to Nusakambangan Island.
Photo: news.au.com |
Ninth Regional Military Command (Kodam IX) Udayana commander Maj. Gen. Torry Djohar Banguntoro said on Monday that the Indonesian Military had prepared a squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets to guard the transfer of two Australian drug traffickers on death row from Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali to the Nusakambangan prison island in Cilacap, Central Java.
“We have also prepared the Army’s Raiders and Cavalry forces to provide security for the two death-row convicts, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, in their journey from Kerobokan Penitentiary to Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Monday.
Eleven death-row convicts including the two Bali Nine members, Chan and Sukumaran, are scheduled to be executed after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo rejected their clemency requests.
Torry said he had received an order from Indonesian Military commander Gen. Moeldoko to help secure the transfer of the Australian death-row convicts.
“A squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets is ready to guard a Hercules aircraft that will transport the death-row convicts [to Nusakambangan]. We have also prepared sea patrols and land-security measures,” he said after a meeting with members of House of Representatives Commission I overseeing security affairs in Kupang.
Torry refused to give details on when the death-row convicts would be transferred to Nusakambangan.
“On the exact date [of the transfer], it’s beyond our responsibility. What we can confirm is that security precautions for land, sea and air are all ready,” he said.
Sukumaran, Chan face likely move this week
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are likely to be moved from their Bali jail cells this week, with builders under orders to speed up construction of more isolation cells on the execution island.
Bali's chief prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso says he's waiting on the green light from Nusakambangan, the central Java jail island, before transferring the Australians.
That's "very likely" to happen this week, he says.
"What we want is the sooner the better," he told reporters on Monday.
"If they (Nusakambangan) can be fast, we'll be fast too."
The transfer of the Bali Nine pair was postponed last week after it was found there wasn't enough isolation cells for more than five prisoners.
On Monday, building materials began arriving, and a jail official who did not want to be named said they were under orders to work fast and have the renovations completed within days.
Head of corrections at Central Java Law and Human Rights office, Yuspahruddin, said a partition would be built to separate the death row inmates from other prisoners.
"It's not that there's no room," he said.
"The room is available.
"But because it's isolation, they must not have any contact with other prisoners."
The arrival of Sukhoi fighter jets in Bali on Sunday had also fuelled speculation the jail transfer was imminent.
Ngurah Rai Airport airforce commander Sugiharto Prapto said the jets were in Bali as part of an unrelated year-long exercise.
They would be in Bali for seven days and, if called on, could provide security for Chan and Sukumaran's move.
"If they use a charter plane, we're ready to secure it so that the operation can be implemented safely and smoothly," he said.
Meanwhile, advisers to Indonesia's President Joko Widodo say he should get the executions of drug offenders over and done with, as pressure builds from overseas.
Australia has been making strong representations for clemency to Indonesia on behalf of Chan and Sukumaran, sentenced to death for the 2005 heroin smuggling plot.
But Brazil has taken the strongest stance so far, delaying the acceptance of the credentials of Indonesia's new ambassador, who has now been recalled to Jakarta.
Brazilian drug smuggler Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira was executed last month.
Pleas for a Brazilian man set for execution this month, Rodrigo Gularte, have gone unheeded, despite evidence he has a severe mental illness.
An adviser on corruption to Mr Joko, international law lecturer Hikmahanto Juwana, says Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff view Indonesia as "easily pressured".
He argues Indonesia should push ahead with the executions before any further "foreign intervention" blocks Mr Joko from "exercising his right to sovereignty".
"Rather than make the situation worse ... I think the government should expedite the death penalty," he said.
Prof Hikmahanto said he hadn't advised Mr Joko on the executions, but another adviser, Hasyim Muzadi, had also expressed the view they should be expedited.
Tensions between Canberra and Jakarta boiled over last week after Mr Abbott linked Chan and Sukumaran's fate to Australia's donation of $1 billion in aid following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
Jakarta perceived the comments as threats and warned that "no one responds well to threats".
Source: AAP, Feb. 23, 2015
No entity allowed to keep Indonesia from carrying out executions: Moeldoko
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The Indonesian infantry trained on a beach opposite
the island slated for Chan and Sukumaran’s executions.
Photo: news.au.com |
Indonesian Military commander Gen. Moeldoko said there should be no entity allowed to keep the government from carrying out its plan to execute 11 death row convicts.
“We, the Indonesian Military, are of the opinion that there should be no one allowed to attempt disrupting the implementation of the executions by any means, in any way. From the military side, we have been ready [to anticipate such a situation]. Don’t ever think to try disrupting the executions of the death sentences,” he said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Monday.
Moeldoko said Indonesian military forces would ensure the security of the death sentence executions. He said he had prepared a special force to provide security both before and after the executions.
Eleven death row convicts, including two Bali Nine members, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, will be executed since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has rejected their clemency requests.
The Australian government has urged President Jokowi’s administration to cancel the executions of Chan and Sukumaran, who were convicted on drug trafficking charges.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott pointed to Australia’s Aceh tsunami aid in 2004 as a reason for the Indonesian government to show mercy.
Chan and Sukumaran were arrested when they, together with seven other Australian nationals, attempted to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia into Australia.
Source:
The Jakarta Post, February 23, 2015
