INDONESIA MOVING TO REDUCE DEATH ROW POPULATION BY INCREASING RATE OF EXECUTIONS

June 25, 2012: In Indonesia, the Bali Post quoted the National Chief Prosecutors office as confirming that prosecutors in Banten (West Java) and Jakarta are making preparations for a sudden surge of executions of prisoners now under sentence of death in Indonesia.
A Junior Chief Prosecutor, Hamzah Tadja, confirmed steps are in play that will soon bring 20 people on death row in the two locales before a firing squad.
The numbers slated for death are 3 in Banten and 17 in Jakarta. While confirming the preparations are ongoing, Hamzah refused to give a time or a place for the coming executions.
“I am not allowed to tell you (the time of the planned executions). Later, when it’s time, you’ll know,” Hamzah explained on June 25.
He added that he was unable to provide complete data on the total number of people now sitting on death row across Indonesia, because local prosecutors have yet to file formal reports on the actual number of those under a sentence of death who have exhausted all possible avenues of appeal.
Indonesia has recently formalized the appeal process for those under sentence of death in order to shorten the time between sentencing and actual execution. In the past, the appeal process could consume decades.
The last execution before a firing squad in Indonesia occurred in 2008 when the three Bali bombers were shot. (Sources: deathpenaltynews.blogspot.it, 27/06/2012)