Indonesia ombudsman: Execution of Nigerian drug convict wrong

The Indonesian ombudsman says it has discovered evidence of rights violation in the execution of a Nigerian drug convict in 2016.

Ninik Rahayu, an official of the ombudsman office, said Humphrey Jefferson, who was sentenced to death in 2004, had sought a second judicial review of his case by the supreme court, but his request was denied by the central Jakarta court without proper explanation.

She described the denial by the court as a “maladministration.”

Rahayu said Jefferson was seeking clemency from President Joko Widodo at the time of his execution which meant he still had a chance of being pardoned.

The official explained that if Jefferson’s case had been taken by the court, his execution would have been delayed until the final verdict.

She further said the attorney-general’s office, responsible for conducting the execution, had not followed rules requiring it to give Jefferson and his family 72 hours notice of the event.

“When one is given the death penalty, all of the procedures must be done according to the laws,” Rahayu said.

“The rights of the person must be fully met before his sentence is carried out. You can’t bring back the dead to life.”

Telephone calls to the Central Jakarta court to seek comment were not answered but Suhadi, a spokesman of the supreme court, not commenting on any particular case, said the court did not generally grant a second review.

Jefferson, two other Nigerians and an Indonesian were the only prisoners to face the firing squad on July 29 last year, from a group of 14 picked initially.

Ricky Gunawan, Jefferson’s lawyer, said he planned to use the ombudsman’s findings to file a civil lawsuit against the office of the attorney-general, seeking compensation for his client.

“We call on the attorney-general’s office to stop the preparation of any future death execution and treat the convicts with respect and have their rights fulfilled,” Gunawan said.