Pakistani drug convict in Indonesia urges govt to intervene in halting execution

Zulfiqar Ali was arrested in November 2004 in connection with a 300-gram heroine case in Jakart

A Pakistani drug convict who is facing execution in Indonesia, pleaded for his life on Wednesday.

"Talk to me, if you still find me guilty, kill me 10 times," Zulfiqar Ali told Express News. "I am ready to be executed if found guilty, but please spare me if I am innocent," the 52-year-old added.



Ali was transferred Monday to Nusakambangan prison island off Java where executions take place, and Indonesian authorities have told Pakistani officials his execution is imminent. An embassy official in Jakarta said, Indonesia will hold a round of executions on Friday.

Urging the people and government of Pakistan to take up his case with Indonesian authorities, Ali said, “We leave our homes to give our families a better life, we don't go to other countries to become criminals." The drug convict believes his execution will be put on hold if both countries put all differences aside and take up the matter on embassy level.

Further, speaking to Express News, Ali's sister said, "My brother is innocent, he is facing punishment for crimes he did not commit."

Appealing to the Pakistan government, Ali's sister claimed she had spoken to him over the telephone during which Ali told her he is innocent but the Indonesian authorities don't listen to anything he says.

"Authorities say they will execute him. I am appealing to the government of Pakistan to do something. I don't know what to say, we don’t have time."

"I keep praying to God that they become merciful towards my brother," Ali's sister added, while stating that Ali, a father of six, was the sole breadwinner for his family.

Rights group asks Indonesia to pardon Pakistani drug convict

A rights group urged the government on Monday to try to halt the execution of Ali after his family was notified he would soon face a firing squad.



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.”

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.

Pressure mounts on Indonesia to call off looming executions

Indonesia will be "on the wrong side of history" if it proceeds with a fresh round of executions this week, rights groups warned Wednesday, as authorities confirmed 14 prisoners will face the firing squad.



A group of drug convicts including foreigners have been given notice of their executions and could be put to death as early as Friday, though authorities remain tight-lipped about specific details.

Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo said Wednesday that 14 people -- including prisoners from Nigeria, Pakistan, India and Zimbabwe -- had been put in isolation and would be executed this week.

"They still have the right to see their family. We have also asked what their last requests are," Prasetyo told reporters.

Family members and embassy officials visited the condemned prisoners Wednesday on Nusakambangan island, home to a high-security prison where Indonesia conducts executions.

Indonesia -- which has some of the toughest anti-drugs laws in the world -- executed 14 drug convicts, mostly foreigners, in two batches last year.