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 firing 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."
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