Indian national Gurdip Singh who along with 13 others was supposed to be executed by the Indonesian government was given a temporary relief on Friday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed. While the firing squad executed four drug convicts – two Nigerians, a Senegalese and an Indonesian – officials said that the fate of 10 others will be decided later, reported CNN. Deputy Attorney General Noor Rachmad said the rest of the executions will be carried out in stages.
While the authorities did not give any specific reason for the reprieve, the prison island where they were expected to be executed at was hit by a major storm, reported NDTV.
Singh was found guilty of trying to smuggle 300 grams of heroin into Indonesia in 2004 and was sentenced to death by the state district court at Tanggerang in Banten province in February 2005. Singh’s wife told NDTV that staff from External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s office contacted the family and assured them that they were doing their best to save him. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said Singh has the right to appeal to the President of Indonesia for clemency. “The embassy has asked the Indonesia government to look at all legal options.”
This was the third set of executions under President Joko Widodo who was elected in 2014 and campaigned on promises to improve human rights in Indonesia, reported Jakarta Post. Amnesty International called the executions violations of Indonesian and international law. Last year also, Indonesia executed 14 drug convicts.
[Source:- Scroll.in]
