Indonesia on Friday cancelled execution of an Indian drug convict, after senior Indian diplomats intervened hours before the execution was to take place.
Gurdip Singh, 48, of Jalandhar was to face the firing squad in the island of Cilacap, on Friday morning as part of the planned execution of 14 drug convicts who had received the death sentence in Indonesia.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj acknowledged the development and said “Indian Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that Gurdip Singh whose execution was fixed for last night, has not been executed.”
Mr. Singh’s wife Kulwinder Kaur told the media in Jalandhar that he has been sent back to jail and that he spoke to her over phone on Friday morning. Appealing the Indonesian government for mercy to Gurdip Singh, Kulwinder Kaur said he has spent years in jail which was enough penance for his crime if he was guilty and he should be sent back to his country.
“A priest was invited and a van had also arrived to carry his body but the execution was halted at the last minute. He was then sent back to the prison,” she said. Mr. Singh was one of the ten convicts who were allowed to return to the jail while the Indonesian authorities executed four other prisoners.
Mr. Singh was arrested in Soekarno Hatta airport in 2004 for smuggling 300 gm heroin. Subsequently he received a death sentence at lower courts which was upheld by the Supreme Court of Indonesia. Several of the death row convicts had applied for pardon but Singh chose not to apply. Human rights organisations had demanded that Singh should have been pardoned in view of the long prison term that he has already served.
The Hindu reported on July 28 that the government of President Widodo had notified families of the fourteen drug convicts that it would carry out the death sentence as delivered by the Indonesian court.
The notification did not mention the time of carrying out the capital punishment but it was understood that the executions would take place within 72 hours of the notification as required under Indonesian law.
Responding to the reports of the planned execution, on Thursday, Vikas Swarup, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that Indian officials had met Gurdip Singh [in Indonesia] and were camping in the island of Cilacap.
(With agency inputs)
