Widodo: tough against hard drug crimes

Indonesia executed four drugs convicts in the early hours of Friday.

The convicts, an Indonesian man and three Nigerians were killed by firing squad shortly after midnight local time (17:00 GMT) at the Nusakambangan prison island, according to BBC.

The country had earlier indicated that it will execute 14 prisoners on death row for drug related offences, but reports indicated tha 10 of the convicts got a last-minute stay of execution.

“The executions are only aimed at halting drug crimes,”  said Indonesia’s Deputy Attorney -General Noor Rachmand.

He added that the execution of the remaining prisoners on death row will be carried out in stages.

The convicts killed on  Friday have been identifed as Indonesian Freddy Budiman and Nigerians Seck Osmane, Humphrey Jefferson Ejike and Michael Titus Igweh.

Reports indicated that relatives of the of the executed prisoners were present to bid the men goodbye.

The prisoner’s bodies are to be returned to their relatives for funerals.
No reason for the reprieve given to the other 10 inmates, but island was hit by a major storm as the other executions took place, according to BBC.

Four other Nigerians are among those awaiting execution.

Ricky Gunawan, lawyer for Humphrey Jefferson Ejike, said the execution process was “a complete mess,” according to BBC.
“No clear information was provided to us about the time of execution, why only four [were executed] and what happens to the 10 others,” he told AFP.

President Joko Widodo promised to take a tough stand against drug trafficking when he was elected in 2014.

He has refused to yield to international pressure to halt the executions.
This is the third round of executions under Mr Widodo.

The execution of 14 convicts in 2014 lead to a diplomatic row between Indonesia and and Australia whose citizen was one of those killed.