JAKARTA // Indonesia executed seven foreigners for drug smuggling including two Australians, the Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday, a move that risks intensifying tensions between the Asia-Pacific neighbors with a history of diplomatic rifts.
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the leaders of a gang of nine young Australians arrested for attempting to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian island of Bali in 2005, were killed by firing squad, the paper said, quoting the attorney general’s office.
The two men were part of a group of eight from countries such as Nigeria and Brazil executed alongside an Indonesian.
Filipino Mary Jane Veloso was spared after a person who allegedly recruited her as a drug courier went to police in the Philippines on Tuesday, the Jakarta Post said.
Australia, which opposes the death penalty, made more than 50 appeals for clemency, with prime minister Tony Abbott saying that executing the pair would be “beneath” Indonesia and against its best interests.
The stand-off is the most serious since 2013 when Mr Abbott refused to apologise amid reports Australia spied on Indonesia’s leaders.
Indonesia’s government said in December it would put to death 64 convicts, including foreigners.
President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, has allowed the death penalty for drug crimes after a pause under the previous government, and repeatedly said he would not show mercy for smugglers. His government rejected Australia’s proposal for a prisoner swap.
Australia has not stated if it will recall its ambassador to Jakarta or impose other sanctions after the executions. Trade minister Andrew Robb, who is attempting to sign a free-trade agreement with Indonesia, shelved a delegation to the nation due to the increased tensions.
Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said on Saturday she was “deeply and profoundly concerned” at the prospect of the men being executed.
French president Francois Hollande warned beforehand of “consequences” if the executions proceeded.
Philippine president Benigno Aquino had spoken with Mr Jokowi on Monday in Malaysia – where the two attended the Asean summit – to call for leniency in the case of Veloso, saying she had been duped into being an unwitting carrier of drugs.
After Indonesia executed six people in January for drug trafficking, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in protest.
Chan and Sukumaran were part of a group now known as the Bali Nine caught carrying 8 kilogrammes of heroin at the island’s airport in 2005.
In calling for clemency, Mr Abbott said in February that Indonesia should remember Australia’s aid to the nation in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Indonesia’s foreign ministry responded that “no one responds well to threats”.
* Bloomberg
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
