Jalandhar man facing gallows in Indonesia may not be pardoned

BOGOR: A Jalandhar man facing death sentence in Indonesia on drug smuggling charges may not be pardoned, President Joko Widodo has indicated, saying the capital penalty is handed down only to individuals who have carried out serious crimes and is not based on nationality.

Gurdip Singh''s wife Kulwinder Kaur and his family pose with his photographs at Nakodar, Jalandhar, on July 27, 2016. PTI file photo

Bogor, December 11

A Jalandhar man facing death sentence in Indonesia on drug smuggling charges may not be pardoned, President Joko Widodo has indicated, saying the capital penalty is handed down only to individuals who have carried out serious crimes and is not based on nationality.

Ahead of his state visit to India, Widodo said: "My duty as President is to uphold the law and Indonesia's sovereignty. This will be applied in all cases, including those involving capital punishment".

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Asked if he would pardon Indian national Gurdeep Singh, who is facing death sentence in Indonesia on drug charges since 2004, the president said "The death penalty is imposed only on individuals who have carried out serious crimes, and is not based on nationality".

Indonesia has 1.2 million people addicted to drugs, 40 to 50 of them die daily due to drug abuse and 4.5 million are undergoing rehabilitation, he said.

Singh, 48, was arrested at the Soekarno Hatta airport in 2004 for smuggling 300 gms of heroin. His execution by firing squad was deferred on July 29 this year.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at that time had said that India was exploring all legal options to prevent his execution.

Appealing to the Indonesian government for mercy to Singh, his wife Kulwinder Kaur had said he has spent 14 years in jail, which she said was enough penance for his crime if he was guilty and he should be sent back.

Widodo, however, said: "Drugs are a serious threat to Indonesia, and in particular for the country's younger generation. Indonesia is now facing an emergency situation due to illicit drug trafficking and abuse".

Indonesia continues to act decisively to address drug problems through law enforcement and international cooperation, he said.

"We also run a variety of programmes to increase public awareness of the dangers of drugs," the president said adding that death penalty remains a part of Indonesian law. —

Gurdip Singh, who was convicted for drug charges and sentenced to die, was supposed to be executed in July, but his execution was dropped. — PTI