News Digest

Pleas for mercy rain on Indonesia’s president as executions near

Relatives of several convicts on death row in Indonesia have made emotional last-ditch appeals for mercy, adding their voices to foreign governments and the head of the United Nations who called for the group of nine to be spared the firing squad. Indonesia this weekend informed the group of drug-crime convicts, which includes nationals from Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines and Australia, that they would be executed in a matter of days, possibly as soon as Tuesday. The appeals for clemency were directed at President Joko Widodo, whose determination to deal harshly with drug crimes has won popular support at home.

There are nine people with families that love them … so we ask the president to use his powers to intervene and save their lives.

Australian Chintu Sukumaran, after visiting his brother Myuran on death row

Widodo’s tough stance has brought international criticism and has strained relations with several countries, particularly neighbour Australia. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Widodo on Saturday not to execute the prisoners and called on him to “urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition”. Philippine President Benigno Aquino told reporters he also planned to appeal to Widodo during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.