JAKARTA: Indonesia is ready to execute seven foreign drug convicts on death row after their appeals for presidential clemency were rejected, an official said, in a move certain to set Jakarta on a collision course with international allies. They include two Australian leaders of the ‘Bali Nine’ drug-smuggling gang, who have been on death row for almost a decade. The pair lost their appeals in December and earlier this month.
A spokesman for the attorney-general’s office revealed late Wednesday that a further five foreigners, from countries including France, Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana, have also lost their appeals. Four Indonesians – only one of them convicted of drugs offences – had also lost their bid for clemency.
“The attorney general’s office now has 11 convicts on death row ready to be executed,” spokesman Tony Spontana said late Wednesday. Indonesia earlier this month executed six drug offenders, including five foreigners, prompting a furious Brazil and the Netherlands – whose citizens were among those put to death – to recall their ambassadors. — AFP