INDONESIA TO CHANGE PROCESSES AFTER DEATH ROW INMATES RIOT

June 24, 2008: an Indonesian prison riot involving dozens of death row inmates sparked a change to execution procedures, authorities say.
Some 56 prisoners - most of them on death row - rioted at the maximum security Pasir Putih prison on Nusamambangan Island off Central Java yesterday, burning several rooms in the compound.
It happened after two of the prisoners - convicted Nigerian heroin smugglers Hansen Anthony and Samuel Okoya - were told they would be soon executed, possibly this week.Indonesia's Director General of Prisons Untung Sugiyono said the 56 prisoners involved had been sent to five nearby prisons.
Sugiyono said that following the riot, authorities would change the process under which prisoners are notified about their impending executions.
'In the future when officers from the prosecutor's office come to give the notification letter of execution to the prisoners, prisoners should be accompanied by their lawyer,' Sugiyono said. 'And the prosecutor officers must be accompanied by the police, so that this kind of incident can be avoided.'
Death sentences in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad, usually at night at an isolated and secret location. The prisoner is notified of his execution date at least 72 hours beforehand. (Sources: Australian Associated Press, 24/06/2008)