30 October 2023 :

An Indonesian court on October 27, 2023 ordered that eight Iranian nationals be executed for smuggling more than 700 pounds (300 kg) of crystal methamphetamine by sea into Java.
The Iranians were arrested in early 2023 after authorities found the stash hidden aboard a ship that brought them to Banten, a province on the western tip of Java island.
The Serang District Court in Banten, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Jakarta, found the defendants guilty of trafficking the drug.
“We hereby sentence the defendants to the death penalty,” Uli Purnama, who led the three-judge panel, said October 27 as he read out the verdict following the trial.
The defendants, who attended the trial with interpreters, said they were considering appealing the verdict. They have seven days to challenge it.
A joint team from the National Narcotics Agency and the customs department seized 319 kg (703 pounds) of methamphetamine hidden under the fuel tank of their ship when the men were arrested in February. Sniffer dogs found 309 packages containing the drug.
The men had been sailing without documents in the waters south of Java.
Prosecutors had sought to spare one of the defendants, Amir Naderi, from being sent to death row. They said he had shown law enforcers where the methamphetamine was stowed away on the ship. 
The judges rejected that request, sentencing him to die with the others.
During October 27 courtroom session, the judges heard that the smuggling operation began in January when a man named Ali Baluchazai, who is still at large, asked one of the defendants, Abdul Rahman Zardkuhi, to deliver methamphetamine to Indonesia by sea by promising 80 million Iranian rials (U.S. $1,883).
Zardkuhi then recruited the other defendants, divided the money and departed by boat from Pozm Port, about 1,700 km. (1,056 miles) southeast of Tehran, the prosecution said. They received the methamphetamine package on their way and continued sailing to Indonesian waters.

09 August 2023 :

A senior police official sentenced to death for murdering his bodyguard has had his punishment commuted to life in prison by Indonesia's Supreme Court, an official said August 8, 2023.
Ferdy Sambo, a two-star general and former head of internal affairs for the national police, was named as a suspect after his bodyguard was found dead at Sambo's home in July last year, in a killing police were initially accused of covering up.
His months-long trial grabbed national headlines earlier this year and shone a light on a pervading sense of police impunity in the archipelago nation.
Supreme Court spokesman Sobandi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said in a statement aired on broadcaster Metro TV that judges had decided to revise "the qualifications of the crime".
As such, he added: "The penalty becomes life imprisonment."
Sambo was sentenced to death in February by a state court, and appealed in April to a high court, which upheld the sentence.
April 8 decision came after Sambo lodged an appeal in May to the country's highest court.
His wife, Putri Candrawathi -- who was also jailed for her role in planning the murder -- had her appeal approved and her 20-year sentence halved.
Sambo was accused of ordering a subordinate to shoot 27-year-old Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, and then firing a bullet into the wounded victim himself.
When Hutabarat's death came to light, police initially said another member of the security detail had killed him, having caught him sexually assaulting Sambo's wife.
Sambo and his wife were only arrested weeks later.
Police did not reveal the killing for days and said surveillance cameras were not working when Hutabarat was shot. The judge in the initial trial said CCTV footage was deleted by a Sambo subordinate.

12 April 2023 :

Death row inmate Ferdy Sambo had his appeal rejected by the Jakarta High Court on April 12, 2023, two months after he was convicted by a district court of murdering former subordinate Brigadier Nofriansyah Yosua Huatabarat and condemned to death.
“We uphold the verdict by the South Jakarta District Court to which [the defendant] is appealing,” Presiding Judge Singgih Budi Prakoso said after four other judges read out the verdict in turn.
The hearing was aired live by national television networks.
Ferdy was an inspector general with a key position when he plotted and ordered the July 8, 2022 murder of Yosua allegedly due to the accusation that the subordinate had sexually attacked his wife, according to court documents.
The unarmed victim was shot multiple times at close range inside Ferdy’s official residence in South Jakarta. In addition to premeditated murder, Ferdy was also found guilty of obstruction of justice.
In a series of hearings, active and former officers testified how they were asked to tamper with evidence and the crime scene to support Ferdy’s false claim that Yosua had died in a shootout with a fellow officer.
The district court also ruled that the sexual violence accusations against the deceased didn’t stand up.
Ferdy’s wife, Putri Candrawathi, was convicted guilty of becoming complicit in the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Family assistant Kuat Ma’ruf and Brigadier Ricky Rizal were sentenced to 15 years and 13 years in prison, respectively, for assisting Fredy in the murder and failing to report to the police.
A low-ranking officer, Second Patrolman Richard Eliezer, was found guilty of firing his gun at the victim on Ferdy’s order. 
But the district court sentenced Richard to just 18 months in prison on the grounds that he agreed to cooperate with investigators and prosecutors in uncovering the murder case despite Ferdy’s obvious attempts to mislead the investigation team.
All defendants but Richard have filed an appeal to the Jakarta High Court.

23 February 2023 :

A former police general found guilty of ordering the killing of his bodyguard and covering up the murder was sentenced to death by a Jakarta court on 13 February 2023. The decision brings closure to one of the largest criminal trials in Indonesian history. But in a country known for police impunity, experts have cautioned against taking the judgment as a sign of serious reform.
Ferdy Sambo, the former head of the Profession and Security Division of the Indonesian National Police, was found “legally and convincingly guilty” of premeditated murder, South Jakarta District Court Judge Wahyu Iman Santoso said in his judgment on 13 February. 
On July 8, Sambo ordered one of his subordinates to shoot 27-year-old Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, a police officer who served as his bodyguard and driver. Sambo would claim that Yosua sexually assaulted his wife, though the claim was later dismissed by the court.
As Yosua writhed in pain after being shot, Sambo, who was wearing black gloves, picked up a gun and shot the back of Yosua’s head to “make sure he was really dead,” prosecutors told the court in October. He then proceeded to destroy CCTV footage to cover up the murder. Sambo also fired extra shots into a wall to give the scene the appearance of a gunfight, the court heard from witness accounts.
Sambo and investigators initially claimed that Yosua had died in a shootout with another officer. But attempts by police to stop Yosua’s family from viewing his body, as well as suspicions over multiple bruises on his corpse, led his family to file a police report claiming he was the victim of premeditated murder. 
Sambo’s wife and other accomplices were also convicted this week for their roles in the murder. His wife was sentenced 20 years in jail on 13 February, while her personal assistant received 15 years. Sambo’s aide was given 13 years in jail, while the police officer who shot Yosua is expected to receive his sentence this week. It’s unclear if Sambo will appeal his sentence.
As public pressure mounted in the Yosua murder case, Sambo and six other police officers suspected of tampering with evidence were dishonorably discharged in August last year. The public prosecutor had asked for life imprisonment for Sambo in January, arguing that his behavior had tainted the reputation of the national police force locally and internationally. 

17 April 2023 :

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has granted clemency to a woman who spent more than 20 years on death row for drug smuggling, the convict’s lawyer said on 14 April, 2023, a move rights group Amnesty termed “unprecedented”.
Merri Utami, 49, was sentenced to death in 2002 by a court in Tangerang, west of the capital Jakarta, after she was found guilty of trying to smuggle heroin into the country. She had claimed that she was duped into becoming a drug mule.
“We appreciate this clemency decision. Finally, the president wants to open his eyes that drug crimes are not only about drug kingpins and… harsh punishments,” said Aisya Humaida, one of Utami’s lawyers. 
Amnesty International’s Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid welcomed the decision to grant clemency to a drug convict on death row, terming it “unprecedented” under Widodo’s administration. 
“This is important to show that there is no correlation, let alone causality between death sentence and the decline in narcotics crimes,” said Hamid.
Utami’s lawyers were considering next steps in order to try to further reduce her sentence, Humaida said. 
Widodo granted Utami clemency almost seven years after she first sent a plea to the president. 
In 2014, Widodo declared a “drug emergency” soon after coming to power, calling for harsher punishments for drug offences and reinstating executions.
His government has, however, begun to amend its hardline policies, said human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis.
“There is a change in policy,” he told AFP. “The National Narcotics Agency used to actively advocate death penalty for drug offenders. Now, (they are) focused on rehabilitation.”
Indonesia handed out at least 114 death sentences in 2021, according to an Amnesty International report, bringing the size of its death row to more than 500, including a number of foreign nationals.
As of 2021, 82 percent of all recorded death sentences were awarded for drug-related offences, according to the report.
Utami was moments away from being executed in 2016, but authorities spared her and nine other convicts at the last minute.
Another female convict, Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine citizen, was also set to face the firing squad in 2015 but was granted a reprieve after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested in the Philippines.
She had been arrested in Indonesia in 2010 for carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin and was later sentenced to death.
The Philippines government sought clemency last year for Veloso, the latest high-level attempt to save her life.