Rights group asks Indonesia to abolish death sentence

A human rights organization demanded on Tuesday that Indonesia abolishes capital punishment, following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year which overturned a death sentence.

The Jakarta-based Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) told reporters that in January this year, the top court overturned death penalty for Yusman Telaumbanua to five years in prison, after it was proven he was a minor.

"Yusman's case has become an important lesson for the government and law enforcers to review the death penalty in Indonesia," said Putri Kanesia, deputy coordinator of advocacy for the organization, in a press conference in capital Jakarta, according to a local website kompas.com.

Indonesia ended a four-year moratorium on the death penalty in March 2013.

A district court had sentenced Telaumbanua and his brother Rasula Hia to death in May 2013 for murdering three of their employers.

KontraS had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Later, during investigations it was revealed that Telaumbanua had been forced to accept charges against him while he was in police custody. He had also admitted he was 19 years old at the time of the murder, when he was actually only 16.

In 2016, he underwent a bone and teeth check which confirmed he was 18-19 years old.

"The Supreme Court ruling corroborates the fact that the judicial system in Indonesia is still very vulnerable to mistakes," said Arif Nur Fikri, head of human rights defense division for KontraS.

Telaumbanua was released from prison last week after serving five years in prison, following the ruling which said he was not the prime accused in the murder case.

At least 14 drug smugglers -- mostly foreigners -- have been executed in Indonesia over the last three years, prompting criticism from activists and the international community.