INDONESIA: INDIANO GIUSTIZIATO PER CONTRABBANDO DI DROGA

GIAKARTA, - Un indiano accusato di contrabbando di droga e condannato a morte dalle autorita' indonesiane e' stato giustiziato. Si tratta della prima esecuzione dopo tre anni in cui la pena capitale non veniva eseguita.

L' uomo, Ayodhya Prasadh Chaubey, e' stato ucciso nel nord dell' isola di Sumatra, a Medan.

L'ultima sentenza capitale fu eseguita nel 2001 nei confronti di due uomini accusati di alcuni omicidi avvenuti nel 1989 a Kupang, la principale citta' della regione occidentale dell' isola di Timor. 

INDONESIA: Indonesia executes drug smuggler

A police firing squad has executed an Indian national who had been found guilty of smuggling heroin into Indonesia, authorities said.

The execution Thursday of Ayodhay Prasad Chaubey in Medan city on Sumatra island was the 1st death sentence carried out in Indonesia since 2001.

It came despite pleas for clemency by the Indian Embassy and London-based rights group Amnesty International, who had complained his trial fell short of international standards of fairness.

A senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the execution was carried out at 0200 a.m. local time on Thursday.

"Ayodhay was shot in the heart from a distance of 10 meters (32 feet)," state news agency Antara quoted north Sumatra prosecutor chief Sudibyo Saleh as saying.

He was given an Islamic burial in the city shortly after the execution, the report said.

Ayodhay was arrested along with 2 Thai nationals in Medan in 1994 after airport officials confiscated 12 kilograms (26 pounds) of heroin.

All 3 were sentenced to death in 1996. The 2 Thai nationals remain on death row.

There are at least 65 people on death row in Indonesia. Many are nationals of African and Asian countries sentenced over drug offenses.