INDONESIA: Indon delays execution of death row convicts

Indonesia will delay the execution of 6 convicts including an Indian on death row after 5 of them appealed to the Supreme Court for a 2nd review, prosecutors said Thursday.

"If we execute them now we can't bring them to life again should their appeals for a review be granted," said Antasari Azhar, spokesman for the attorney general's office.

The Supreme Court rejected earlier appeals for a case review from 5 of the convicts.

The 6th offender has only made one appeal for a review.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has refused clemency for the 6 and asked for a speedy execution.

Five of them are Indonesians convicted of murders while the other is an Indian drug offender, Ayodhya Prasad Chaubey.

"We are talking about someone's life or death so we have to be very careful," Azhar said.

A convict can file a case review or appeal for presidential clemency only after the Supreme Court upholds a sentence imposed by a lower court.

Apart from those convicted of murder, 16 people are on death row for drug trafficking-11 foreigners, 4 Indonesians and a Dutch citizen of Chinese-Indonesian origin.

Indonesian courts have increasingly handed out severe sentences, including death, for drug smugglers. Narcotics abuse is an increasingly serious problem in the country.