More drug convicts could imminently face the firing squad in Indonesia, after authorities said Monday they were ready to carry out a new round of executions after a hiatus. A Pakistani death row convict was sent Monday to Nusakambangan prison island, where Jakarta conducts executions, and an Indonesian woman sentenced to death for narcotics offenses was transferred to the island over the weekend. The Pakistani embassy in Jakarta was notified by the Indonesian foreign ministry on Friday that the Pakistani man, Zulfiqar Ali, would be executed in the near future, Pakistani deputy ambassador Syed Zahid Raza said. Such notifications are typically sent out to foreign embassies in the days before inmates are put to death. It was not immediately clear whether more had been issued. Molyanto, prisons chief in Central Java province, which includes Nusakambangan, said that "all the preparations... have been made." "Any time the attorney-general's office gives the order, we're ready," added the official, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Neither Molyanto nor the attorney-general's office, which oversees executions, would say when the convicts would face the firing squad or who would be included. The attorney-general's office previously said executions would resume after the Eid holiday at the start of July, and that Indonesians and foreigners would be included, but no Europeans or Australians. Indonesia last carried out executions in April 2015 when it put to death seven foreign drug convicts, including two Australians, sparking anger from international allies and the United Nations. But President Joko Widodo has refused to back down, insisting Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use and that drug traffickers must be harshly punished. A Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, who was pulled from the last round of executions will not be included in the upcoming round as a legal process related to her case is ongoing in the Philippines, said the attorney-general's spokesman Mohammad Rum. Several Europeans on death row in Indonesia for drugs offenses look set to escape the looming executions, including Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford. Indonesia executed 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, in two batches in 2015, sparking international outrage. Following the executions of the Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Canberra temporarily recalled its ambassador from Jakarta. Pakistani group seeks pardon for drug convict A rights group urged Islamabad on Monday to try to halt the execution of a Pakistani drug convict in Indonesia after his family was notified he would soon face a firing squad. Zulfiqar Ali, 52, was transferred on Monday to Nusakambangan prison island off Java where executions take place, and Indonesian authorities have told Pakistani officials his execution is imminent. Rights groups including Amnesty International have expressed serious concerns about Ali's conviction, alleging it arose out of beatings and torture and he did not have a fair trial. Maryam Haq, legal director at the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), said: "He was tortured relentlessly and deprived of his most basic legal rights. "Given that there is stronger evidence to support his innocence than guilt, it is now time for the President of Pakistan to appeal to our Muslim allies and save an innocent Pakistani's life." Pakistan's deputy ambassador in Jakarta, Syed Zahid Raza, said earlier Monday his embassy has "approached all the concerned high officials to convince them that it was not a fair trial." Rights groups have claimed Ali, sentenced to death in 2005 for heroin possession, was beaten into confessing. Amnesty said Ali, a father of six, was arrested at his home in West Java province on November 21, 2004, and charged with possession of 300 grams of heroin. He was not allowed access to a lawyer until about one month after his arrest, the group said in a statement in May. It added that while Ali was being interrogated by police, he was kept in a house for three days and punched, kicked and threatened with death unless he signed a self-incriminating statement, which he later did. He was hospitalised and required stomach and kidney surgery after the beatings, the statement continued. "During his trial he described this torture, but the judges allowed the ‘confession' to be admitted as evidence. There has been no independent investigation into his allegations," Amnesty added. Indonesia executed 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, in two batches last year.
