According to a report on Fairfax Media/SMH, a
Nigerian man who is facing execution in Indonesia
within days tearfully told a court that police
electrocuted his genitals to force him to confess to
possessing heroin.
Michael Titus Igweh, a clothe importer is among
several prisoners on death row whom lawyers and
human rights groups are frantically lobbying to save
from the squad amid claims they were
tortured and their legal cases riddled with
corruption, errors and miscarriages of justice.
several prisoners on death row whom lawyers and
human rights groups are frantically lobbying to save
from the squad amid claims they were
tortured and their legal cases riddled with
corruption, errors and miscarriages of justice.
"I was constantly beaten, and my genitals
electrocuted until I was helpless," the clothes
importer, who was sentenced to death in 2003 for
possessing 5.8 kilograms of heroin, told the
Tangerang District Court. "In fact, I was threatened
to be shot."
The third wave of executions in Indonesia could be
held within days. It is understood the Nigerian and
Pakistani embassies have now been notified that
their nationals are among those to be killed
Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo
reiterated on Friday, July 22, the executions would
be "soon" and would include Indonesians and
possibly a woman. Mr Prasetyo had earlier said
prisoners from Nigeria and Zimbabwe would be
among those targeted.
Indonesian human rights group Imparsial said an
anti-death penalty coalition would present the staff
of Indonesian President Joko Widodo with a list of
about seven death row prisoners who had faced
unfair trials and miscarriages of justice.
"It is very dangerous to carry out executions when
the legal system is fragile and riddled with
corruption, error, manipulation and collusion,"
Imparsial executive director Al Araf said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court last week rejected an
application for a case review into the case of Mr
Igweh. His lawyer, Sitor Situmorang, told Fairfax
Media that Supreme Court judges should try cases
based on the law and not to achieve popularity or
appear tough.
"We accepted Michael's case because we saw it
had merit. Out of the many requests from prisoners
on Nusakambangan, we only took this," Mr Sitor
said.
He said Mr Igweh's conviction was based on the
testimony of two alleged accomplices, Marlena and
Izuchukwu Okoloaja, who died in police custody and
could therefore not testify in court.
"We believe Marlena and Okoloaja gave Michael's
name just so the police would stop torturing them,"
he said. "They were healthy when they were
arrested, they had no history of illness, they all just
suddenly died while in police custody. We all know
what that means."
In a further ominous sign the executions could be
just days away, prison visits have this week been
suspended to the penal island of Nusakambangan,
where the prisoners will be strapped to wooden
posts and shot in a field.
Fourteen drug offenders were executed in Indonesia
last year, including Australians Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran, sparking an international
backlash.
However the Indonesian government insists
executions are necessary to combat a so-called
drugs emergency.
"The public want it to be done soon," Attorney-
General Prasetyo said on Friday. "We are getting
more informed now and can see how drugs have
affected our younger generation. We could just lose
a generation."
