New York , USA –UN chief Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to stop the planned executions of ten prisoners for a drug-related crimes, Spare them from execution and nine of them are foreigners.
According to a statement released today by his Spokesperson, the Secretary-General recalled that under international law, if the death penalty is to be used at all, it should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, namely those involving intentional killing, and only with appropriate safeguards.
Ban spoke with the Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, on Thursday “to express his concern at the recent application of capital punishment in Indonesia”, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
“The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances,” Dujarric said. “The secretary general appeals to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offences not be carried out.”
The nine facing execution are from Australia, Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, the Philippines, and Indonesia and have been transported to the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan, where they are set to face a firing squad, despite mounting international criticism. They were given notice on Saturday of Indonesia’s intention to execute them in a minimum of 72 hours.
Officials said earlier that a 10th prisoner, the Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, who was expected to be among the group being put to death, would not be included in the forthcoming batch as he still had an outstanding legal appeal.
