Bali Bombers -- Execution Postponed?

The word on the street is that the execution of the Bali Bombers is going to be later rather than sooner. Later being sometime before the new year. So, when I last reported that I thought that the three murderous stooges (AKA Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas) were having themselves on when they said that they would still be breathing air through December, this was somewhat off the mark. It seems that the person having themselves on about an imminent execution, was me.

The reason is "technicality" or more specifically delays in the paperwork and the prospect of more appeals and the finalization of the previous last ditch effort to claim that the firing squad was an inhumane form of execution.

These constant delays and constant reminders and the continued lack of remorse must be very frustrating for the families of those who lost loved ones and who are looking forward to the day that these murderers suffer the fate that they have been sentenced to. I can only try to imagine what this frustration and constant reminder must be like.

I guess there is always hope for the families that the government will keep its word and execute them in the near future.

On a slightly different note, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, was refused entry to the Batu Prison on Nusakambangan. Unfortunately for Ba'asyir he did not have the necessary paperwork to visit prisoners on death row and the guards told him to go away and come back when he was properly documented. The proper paperwork is the necessary stamps from the relevant offices of the Department of Law and Human Rights.

This did not make much of an impression on Ba'asyir or the members of the Ba'asyir entourage. However, there appears to be no such restrictions with regards to visiting regular inmates. So, he made the trip to Nusakambangan and visited those convicted of terrorism offences but not on death row.

Amrozi, Samudra, Mukhlas

The public desire to see the sentence handed-down against Amrozi, Samudra, and Mukhlas carried out has not reached fever pitch just yet. But, it is worth noting that the Attorney General, Herman Supandji, is coming under much more regular questioning about when the sentence is likely to be carried out. With a bit of luck this extra pressure will force the government into making sure the process is not being stalled for whatever reason.

The Attorney General is currently hiding behind the bureaucratic excuse that the requisite paperwork has not made its way from the courts, to the jail, and then to the OPP. This is convenient, but the government has been talking itself into a bit of a corner when it has said that it intends to ensure that the verdict is carried out before the start of the fasting month on 1 September.

By my reckoning there is less than 13 days to get the paperwork in order and get the deed done. If the bureaucracy fails to come through before 1 September, then I would imagine that a substantial lobby will form to ensure that the first thing the government does on 3 October after the Eid ul-Fitr is to see these three murderers put to death.

Just so none of you are confused here and try and read some hypocrisy into my rants. I am against the death penalty. My personal belief is that these three should rot in prison for the term of their natural lives. However, the sentence is what it is. If the death penalty is not going to apply, then it applies to none. But, if it is going to apply then it must be carried out in the same manner for all.

Thus endeth the sermon!

Enjoy your week.

Bali Bombers - Execution Update

The legal fight continues and could conceivably continue for some time, as Law No. 22 of 2002 on Presidential Pardons clearly stipulates in Article 7(2) that there are no time limitations on the Death Row inmate to submit an application for a pardon. The application can be submitted by the inmate's lawyer or the inmate's family and this can be done with or without the agreement of the inmate. So, despite the bravado displayed by the three Bali Bombers (Amrozi, Samudera, and Ghufron) in their looking forward to their pending executions, the reality is that they are also fully aware that their lawyers and family could tie this execution thing up for the foreseeable future.

The Indonesian Attorney General has gone on the record as saying that he will give the lawyers or the family one more month to submit the pardon applications or he will schedule the execution. This makes the assumption that the bombers do not want to be pardoned and that there is a legal precedent for the scheduling of an execution prior to the exhaustion of all possible legal avenues. Unfortunately, for the AG he might not have the legal legs to stand on, as a literal interpretation of the relevant provisions clearly does not impose a time restriction on the inmates to submit a pardon application. To schedule an execution before the appeals and pardon processes have been fully played out would seem to be a breach of the inmates legal rights. It is a different debate with respect to whether they deserve such rights in light of the devastation and tragedy that they are responsible for. Nevertheless, the process must be allowed to run its full legal course.

The government's hands are tied. So, what next? The most simple option and the one most likely to avert ongoing protests from those keen to see the executions carried out sooner rather than later would be for the government to issue an Interim Law. An Interim Law is in essence a Government Regulation in Lieu of a Law that remains valid for a specified period. This specified period is the next sitting of the House of Representatives (DPR) where the DPR is required to either ratify or reject the Interim Law. This in itself creates the bizarre situation where prisoners may be executed under an Interim Law which may later not be ratified by the DPR or even if it is ratified might be subject to a constitutional challenge. The death penalty is already the subject of constitutional challenge by a group of Australian Death Row inmates (members of the Bali Nine).

So, when will the Bali Bombers be executed? Only time will tell but do not hold your breath. It is one of those cases where 'it will happen but we just do not know exactly when'.