INDONESIA EXECUTES MAN FOR SERIAL MURDERS

August 7, 2008: Indonesia executed a man sentenced to death seven years ago for murdering four people, despite a call from international human rights groups to halt the execution. Rio Alex Bulo, 30, was executed by firing squad overnight in an open field in the Central Java district of Banyumas, said Sutrisno, an official at the provincial prosecutors office. Rio's body was handed over to his family for burial. Rio was sentenced to death by the Purwokerto district court in May 2001 for murdering a lawyer and three drivers from 1997 to 2001. While serving his sentence on Nusakambangan Island, off the southern coast of Central Java, he also killed a fellow inmate. Former president Megawati Sukarnoputri turned down Rio's request for clemency in 2004, and the Indonesian Supreme Court turned down his final appeal for a case review in April. (Sources: Earth Times, 08/08/2008)