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Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's execution backflip
The Australian Thursday 13 Oct 2011 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sent two letters to the Saudi king, including as recently as last week, in an attempt to stop the beheading of an Indonesian maid accused of murdering her employer. The president's personal involvement in the case comes after a public outcry in Indonesia when another maid was beheaded by Saudi authorities in June this year. But Dr Yudhoyono's office has warned that he remains steadfastly opposed to leniency for convicted drug traffickers, delivering a major blow to the clemency hopes for the Bali Nine's Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as well as the Gold Coast's Schapelle Corby. "He remains firm on the position that drugs are an evil crime because the damage it creates for society is so huge," a spokesman for the president said today. "The government, the legal enforcement and law enforcement (agencies) all have similar objectives, positions and understanding that this is a crime and we must make (the punishment) harsh, that the punishment is equal to the repercussion of the crimes committed." "There is no back-tracking on that position. It remains firm." The spokesman said the fact that Dr Yudhoyono had intervened in the cases of Indonesians facing the death penalty did not mean he had altered his stance in relation to capital punishment. "Any government I think is obliged to try seek clemency, to seek a pardon for their citizens who commit crimes but this is not disrespectful to application of law in that country," he said. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is likely to raise the issue of clemency for the Australians in an expected meeting with the Indonesian president in Bali next month. However, a source involved in capital punishment matters in Indonesia, and who has met with the president, has told AAP that Dr Yudhoyono is reluctant to make a decision on the Australian cases. Instead, he pass the responsibility on to the next administration when his term finishes in 2014. Chan and Sukumaran, the so-called ringleaders of a 2005 plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia, had their final appeals against their death sentences rejected earlier this year and must rely on mercy from Dr Yudhoyono if they are to avoid the firing squad. They are yet to submit their clemency applications. The comments from the president's office also have implications for Corby, who is serving a 20-year term for smuggling 4.2kg of cannabis into Indonesia, and who lodged her clemency request almost a year ago. Corby is understood to be struggling psychologically after having now endured seven years inside the squalid confines of Kerobokan prison in Bali. The 34-year-old is not due to be released until April 12, 2024. It is possible, however, that she may receive further remissions on top of the 17 months that have already been cut from her 20-year sentence. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/indonesia-president-susilo-bambang-yudhoyonos-execution-backflip/story-e6frg6so-1226166981339
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