Indonesia executes four convicted for drug crimes

Indonesia on Friday executed four convicted drug traffickers, including three Nigerians, late last night despite a string of legal appeals, diplomatic pressure and international condemnation.

Three Africans and an Indonesian man, all sentenced to death for drug offences, were shot by the firing squad at the Nusakambangan prison island.

They were identified as Indonesian citizen Freddy Budiman, Nigerian nationals Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke and Michael Titus Igweh, and Seck Osmane from Senegal, reports the Guardian.

Ten others, includes three Indonesians and foreign nationals from Pakistan and India, who also faced execution were not killed.

However, the officials said that they would be put to death at a later date.

Deputy Attorney General Noor Rachmad said the four convicts were executed shortly after midnight local time.

"This is not a fun job. For us, this is really a sad job because it involves people's lives... This was done not in order to take lives but to stop evil intentions, and the evil act of drug trafficking," the Guardian quoted him as saying.

The Indonesian authorities yesterday said that 14 prisoners, including the citizens of India, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, would be executed this weekend.

Following the announcement, security was stepped up at the Indonesian embassy in Nigerian capital Abuja as the protesters urged Indonesia to halt the executions.

A vigil also took place in front of the Presidential Palace in Jakarta yesterday, where candles were lit in a last-minute appeal to save the lives of those condemned.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International described the execution as "a deplorable act".

"Any executions that are still to take place must be halted immediately. The injustice already done cannot be reversed, but there is still hope that it won't be compounded," said Amnesty's director for south-east Asia and the Pacific Rafendi Djamin.

The execution of four people is the first in more than a year.

Indonesia resumed executions in 2013, ending a four-year unofficial moratorium on the death penalty.