Capital punishment in Indonesia


Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Indonesia. Although the death penalty is enforced only sometimes in grave cases of premeditated murder, it is regularly applied to some drug traffickers, and drug dealers.

History

Though the death penalty existed as a punishment from the inception of the Republic of Indonesia, the first judicial execution did not take place until 1973.
The Indonesian government does not issue detailed statistics about every person facing the death penalty in the country. In fact, "the search for precise figures is hampered by prevailing state secrecy over the death penalty." It is believed, however, that there are around 130 people, Indonesians and foreign nationals, currently sentenced to die in Indonesia. About ten new death sentences are handed down annually, though executions are infrequent. Many of the prisoners awaiting execution have been waiting for ten years or more. Four executions took place in 2013, the first since 2008. In 2014, no executions took place. In January 2015 six people were shot for drug-related crimes. In April 2015, another eight men, including several Nigerian nationals, one Brazilian and two Australian citizens were executed, also for drug trafficking.. There were no executions in 2017 and 2018 and none have been scheduled for 2019, possibly as a result of intense and widespread international criticism the Indonesian government had to face for carrying out the last executions. President Jokowi has since stated that he is now open to reintroducing an official moratorium on the death penalty. Indonesia is well noted as "a strong advocate against the death penalty for its citizens abroad."

Legal process

Prisoners spend often a long time in prison before their sentence is finally carried out. Usually their final appeal has been exhausted through the trial court, two appellate courts, and consideration of clemency by the President.
Prisoners and their families are notified 72 hours in advance of their pending execution. They are usually transferred to Nusa Kambangan island. They are woken up in the middle of the night and taken to a remote location and executed by firing squad. The method has not changed since 1964.
The prisoner states their final request which the prosecutor may grant when deemed feasible and do not obstruct the execution process.
The blindfolded prisoner is led to a grassy area where they have an option to sit or stand. The armed soldiers shoot at the prisoner from a range of five to ten metres, aiming at the heart. Only three fire live bullets and the rest fire blanks. If the prisoner survives the shot, the commander is required to shoot the prisoner in the head with his own weapon. The procedure is repeated until a doctor confirms no signs of life remain.

Constitutionality

In 2007, the Indonesian Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty for drug cases, by a vote of six to three. The case was brought by prisoners sentenced to death for drug crimes, including some of the Bali Nine, a group of Australian citizens sentenced to prison and the death penalty for drug trafficking in Bali in 2005.

Statutory provisions

The following is a list of the criminal offences that carry the death penalty in Indonesia:
Indonesia ended a four-year moratorium on the death penalty with the execution of Adami Wilson, a citizen of Malawi, on 14 March 2013.
On 17 May 2013, three more prisoners were executed at Nusa Kambangan Prison on an island off the coast of Java. All three were sentenced to die for murder. Suryadi Swabuana was convicted of the premeditated murder of a family in Sumatera in 1991; Jurit bin Abdullah and Ibrahim bin Ujang were convicted of a joint murder in Sekayu, South Sumatra, in 2003.
Executions in Indonesia during and after Suharto era:
YearConvictAge NationalityCrimeLocation
2016
Freddy Budiman39 IndonesiaDrug traffickingSurabaya
2016
Seck Osmane38 Senegal/NigeriaDrug trafficking
2016
Humphrey Jefferson EjikeNigeriaDrug trafficking
2016
Michael Titus IgwehNigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Ang Kiem SoeiNetherlandsDrug traffickingTangerang
2015
Marco Archer53 BrazilDrug traffickingJakarta
2015
Daniel Enemuo38 NigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Namaona Denis48 MalawiDrug trafficking
2015
Rani Andriani38 IndonesiaDrug traffickingTangerang
2015
Tran Bich HanhVietnamDrug trafficking
2015
Martin AndersonNigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Raheem Agbaje SalaamiNigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Sylvester Obiekwe NwoliseNigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Okwudili OyatanzeNigeriaDrug trafficking
2015
Zainal AbidinIndonesiaDrug trafficking
2015
Rodrigo Gularte42 BrazilDrug trafficking
2015
Andrew Chan31 AustraliaDrug traffickingBali
2015
Myuran Sukumaran34 AustraliaDrug traffickingBali
2013
Ademi Wilson alias AbuMalawiDrug trafficking
2013
Suryadi SwabuanaIndonesiaMurder
2013
Jurit bin AbdullahIndonesiaMurder
2013
Ibrahim bin UjangIndonesiaMurder
2008
Amrozi bin NurhasyimIndonesiaTerrorismBali
2008
Imam SamudraIndonesiaTerrorismBali
2008
Huda bin Abdul Haq alias MukhlasIndonesiaTerrorismBali
2008
Rio Alex Bulo alias Rio MartilIndonesiaMurder
2008
Tubagus Yusuf Maulana alias UsepIndonesiaMurder
2008
SumiarsihIndonesiaMurder
2008
SugengIndonesiaMurder
2008
Ahmad SuradjiIndonesiaMurder
2008
Samuel Iwuchukuwu OkoyeNigeriaNarcotics
2008
Hansen Anthony NwaliosaNigeriaNarcotics
2007
Ayub BulubiliIndonesiaMurder
2006
Fabianus TiboIndonesiaRiotPoso
2006
Marinus RiwuIndonesiaRiot
2006
Dominggus DasilvaIndonesiaRiot
2005
Astini SumiasihIndonesiaMurder
2005
TurmudiIndonesiaMurder
2004
Ayodhya Prasad ChaubeyIndiaDrug traffickingNorth Sumatra
2004
Saelow PrasertThailandDrug traffickingNorth Sumatra
2004
Namsong SirilakThailandDrug traffickingNorth Sumatra
2001
Gerson PandeIndonesiaMurderEast Nusa Tenggara
2001
Fredrik SoruIndonesiaMurderEast Nusa Tenggara
2001
Dance SoruIndonesiaMurderEast Nusa Tenggara
1998
Adi SaputraIndonesiaMurderBali
1995
Chan Tian ChongIndonesiaNarcotics
1995
Karta CahyadiIndonesiaMurderCentral Java
1995
Kacong LaranuIndonesiaMurderCentral Sulawesi
1992
Sergeant Adi SaputroIndonesiaMurder
1991
Azhar bin MuhammadIndonesiaTerrorism
1990
Satar SuryantoIndonesiaSubversion
1990
Yohannes SuronoIndonesiaSubversion
1990
Simon Petrus SoleimanIndonesiaSubversion
1990
Noor alias Norbertus RohayanIndonesiaSubversion
1989
Tohong HarahapIndonesiaSubversion
1989
Mochtar Effendi SiraitIndonesiaSubversion
1988
Abdullah UmarIndonesiaSubversion
1988
Bambang SispoyoIndonesiaSubversion
1988
SukarjoIndonesiaSubversion
1988
Giyadi WignyosuharjoIndonesiaSubversion
1987
Liong Wie Tong alias LazarusIndonesiaMurder
1987
Tan Tiang TjoenIndonesiaMurder
1987
SukarmanIndonesiaSubversion

Foreign nationals

The people on death row include foreign nationals, all but one of whom were convicted of drug-related offences. These foreign inmates come from 18 different countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Ghana, India, Iran, Malawi, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.