Indian spared from execution in Indonesia

Indian national Gurdip Singh, who was to be executed in Indonesia following his conviction in a drug smuggling case, has been spared.

“The Indian Ambassador in Indonesia has informed me that Gurdip Singh, whose execution was fixed for Thursday night, has not been executed,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on Friday morning.

However, at the time of going to press, there was no information from the Ministry of External Affairs on what the Indonesian government plans to do with Singh and nine other convicts, all of whom were sentenced to death by the firing squad.

Hailing from Jalandhar, Singh (48) was arrested on August 29, 2004, at the Soekarno Hatta airport on charges of drug trafficking. The Tangerang court awarded him capital punishment in February 2005, against the prosecutor’s request for 20 years’ imprisonment.

Singh is presently detained at Nusakambangan Pasir Putih, Cilacap.

On Friday, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that the Indian embassy officials in Jakarta were reaching out to the Indonesian foreign office and the political leadership with their plea on the issue.

“Afdhal Muhammad, Singh’s legal representative, was of the view that he can file for Presidential clemency under the relevant law before the president of Indonesia. The embassy sent a note verbale to Indonesia’s foreign ministry requesting that all legal recourse should be exhausted before the death penalty is carried out,” Swarup said.