Even as the Indonesian government refused to grant mercy to any of the 22 prisoners it executed from 2013-2016 for drug trafficking, it was making diplomatic efforts to save its citizens who had been sentenced to death for drug trafficking abroad. Their efforts have paid off for three men who had been sentenced to die in Malaysia in 2010 but were able to return to their homeland yesterday after they were granted pardons by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia).
The three Indonesian citizens, Bustamam bin Bukhari, Tarmizi bin Yaacob and Sulaiman bin Ismail, flew back to Indonesia yesterday accompanied by officers from the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur. They were received by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta who will handle their repatriation to their hometowns in Aceh.
“The three Indonesian citizens have been undergoing legal proceedings in the Malaysian Court system since 1996, or for 23 years, accompanied by legal counsel appointed by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia,” Soeharyo Tri Sasongko, Indonesia’s consular secretary in Kuala Lumpur, said yesterday, as quoted by Antara.
According to Soeharyo, the Indonesian government submitted pardon requests for all three that were granted thanks to the government’s efforts.
Although they had been jailed since 1996, the three men’s appeal process finally ended in 2010 when their death sentences were made final and binding.
But in 2012, Sultan Muhammad V commuted their death sentences to 20-year sentences. Earlier this year, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah commuted their sentences once again, freeing them to return to Indonesia.
Malaysia freed two other Indonesian citizens who had been sentenced to death for drug trafficking earlier this year. However, there are still over one hundred Indonesians on death row in the neighboring country.
Although Indonesia still has the death penalty and criminals still regularly receive the sentence, the country has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since the last ones were done in 2016. Although sentencing drug traffickers to death is still largely supported by Indonesians, the practice has been vocally denounced by human rights activists and much of the international community. President Joko Widodo and senior officials have given statements indicating that the moratorium is likely to stay in place.
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