Prosecution Watchdog to file complaints against Indonesia Attorney General over execution of Humphrey Ejike
The Commission for Public Prosecutions (Komjak) will file a
complaint against Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo for what it claims was
the unlawful execution of two death-row prisoners, whose clemency
applications were still being processed.
Prior
to his execution, Ejike had refused to sign papers alleging that he was
unfairly targeted along with other executed Nigerians.His case was one
of those highligted in the Amnesty International report 'When Justice
Fails' which raised concerns about his lack of access to a lawyer at the
time of his arrest, torture and the impartiality of the court process.
"I am unable to confirm this yet, because there has been nothing
related to the executions to be taken to the plenary meeting, as far as I
know," Komjak commissioner Ferdinand Andi Lolo said in Jakarta on
Saturday, August 6th.
Ferdinand
said the report the commission received will be discussed in a plenary
meeting, in accordance with procedures. Deputy Komjak chairwoman Erna
Ratnaningsih has confirmed receipt of the report against the attorney
general, but was unable to confirm any follow-up actions.
"I have previously received complaints from Gurdip Singh and [the Indonesian Avocation Agency] Ganas," Ratna said.
According to the complaints, both convicts were illegally
executed as they were still involved in a clemency process. The
executions should only have been carried out after President Joko
"Jokowi" Widodo rejected their clemency requests with an official
presidential decree.
"Illegal executions can be categorized as a planned or unplanned
acts of murder, as well as alleged violations of basic human rights,"
Indonesian Anticorruption Society (MAKI) coordinator Boyamin Saiman said last Friday.
According to Boyamin, the attorney general can be sanctioned with
a either warning or dishonorable discharge for carelessly carrying out
the executions, as the convicts informed his office that they had
applied for clemency.
The execution of four death-row inmates and the testimony of one
of them, Freddy Budiman, about the alleged involvement of members of the
National Police, National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Indonesian
Military (TNI) in drug smuggling, has triggered strong criticisms in
recent days.
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