NIGERIAN businessman Michael Titus Igweh who is facing execution on death row has alleged that Indonesian police tortured him and forced him to confess that he was a drug dealer who trafficked heroin.
Mr Igweh, who is based in Indonesia and works as a cloth importer, was sentenced to death for possessing 5.8 kilograms of heroin. He has been on death row since 2003 but lawyers and human rights groups are lobbying to save from the firing squad amid claims they were tortured and the legal case against him was riddled with corruption, errors and the miscarriage of justice.
During his appearance at the Tangerang District Court yesterday, Mr Igweh tearfully said police electrocuted his genitals to force him to confess to possessing heroin. His lawyer, Sitor Situmorang, said Supreme Court judges should try cases based on the law and not to achieve popularity or appear tough.
“I was constantly beaten and my genitals electrocuted until I was helpless. In fact, I was threatened to be shot,” Mr Igweh added.
Mr Situmorang added: “Mr Igweh’s conviction was based on the testimony of two alleged accomplices, Marlena and Izuchukwu Okoloaja, who died in police custody and could therefore not testify in court. We believe Marlena and Okoloaja gave Michael’s name just so the police would stop torturing them.
“They were healthy when they were arrested, they had no history of illness, they all just suddenly died while in police custody, and we all know what that means. We accepted Michael’scase because we saw it had merit and out of the many requests from prisoners on Nusakambangan, we only took this.”
However, Indonesia's attorney-general, however rejected an application for a case review into the case of Mr Igweh. He said the Indonesian government insists executions are necessary to combat drugs emergency and that the executions would be soon and would include Indonesians and possibly a woman.
He added that the third wave of executions in Indonesia could be held within days. Prisoners from Nigeria and Zimbabwe would be among those targeted, he said, pointed out that the public want it to be done soon.
