UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — After Indonesia announced its intention to execute ten prisoners on drug charges, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday appealed to the country's government to not carry out the executions and to consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition.
The ten drug smugglers include nationals from Australia, Philippines, France, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia.
"The Secretary-General appeals to the Government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution, as announced, of ten prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related crimes," the UN said in a statement published on its website.
"Recalling that the United Nations opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, the Secretary-General urges [Indonesian] President Joko Widodo to urgently consider declaring a moratorium on capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition," the UN statement added.
Earlier in the day, the media reports suggested that at least three of ten drug dealers on Indonesian death row, including two Australian nationals, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and a Philippines woman, Mary Jane Veloso, were handed a notice that they may be executed in 72 hours' time.
Indonesian drug laws are among the world's toughest.
