Indonesia hopes to announce execution date for Mary Jane Veloso, 9 others ‘soon’

JAKARTA - Indonesian authorities said on Thursday they hoped to announce soon the date of the execution of a group of drug convicts after the highest court rejected the final appeals of all but one.
 
More than half of the 10 prisoners facing the firing squad are foreign nationals, and the case has strained Jakarta's relations with Australia, France and Brazil.
 
"We hope the Supreme Court's decision on the last case will come as soon as possible so that we can determine the date (of execution) soon," said Tony Spontana, spokesman for the attorney general's office. The outstanding appeal is that of an Indonesian national.
 
The Supreme Court this week rejected the final appeals of a French and a Ghanaian prisoner according to media reports. Others in the group are from Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and Nigeria.
 
Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay met his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla on the sidelines of a conference in Jakarta this week to appeal for mercy on behalf of the Philippine prisoner.
 
"This is an appeal based on humanitarian considerations," Binay told reporters late on Thursday.
 
But asked if he anticipated any diplomatic fallout between the neighbouring states if the execution went ahead, he said: "I doubt it."
 
French President Francois Hollande warned Indonesia on Wednesday the execution would damage ties between the two countries, according to media reports.
 
The Australian government has repeatedly pleaded for clemency for Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo has refused to budge.
 
Indonesia has harsh punishments for drug crimes and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap. Six have been carried out so far this year. —Reuters

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more