A Ghanaian prisoner and eight others have been sentenced to death by firing squad in Indonesia.
The Ghanaian, Martin Anderson and eight have been convicted for various crimes including drug trafficking.
According to the CNN, the Indonesian government has not confirmed the timing of the executions, but lawyers say the signs are pointing to the firing squad being given their orders shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
Under Indonesian law, the death penalty is carried out by a 12-man firing squad, although only three guns are loaded with live ammunition.
Prisoners are given the choice of whether to stand or sit, and whether they want to wear a blindfold, hood or nothing.
Among the prisoners are Australians Myuran Sukumaran, Andrew Chan, Filipina Mary, Jane Veloso, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Raheem Salami, Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise and Okwudil Oyatanze.
The rest are Frenchman Serge Atlaoui and the only Indonesian on the condemned list is Zainal Abidin.
Martin Anderson’s crime
According to the news.co.au, Martin Anderson, alias Belo, a Ghanaian national, has had it rougher than any of the others.
He was sentenced to death by a Jakarta court in June 2004 for possessing 50 grams of heroin — worth, in current terms, about $2500.
There have been no appeals on his behalf except by Amnesty.
Ghana has no consular representation in Indonesia — its closest office is its high commission in Malaysia.
A Ghanaian consular officer in Malaysia said that to his knowledge, no Ghanaian official had visited Anderson in prison since his arrest 11 years ago. “We are still working on it,” he said.
The officer said he had been approached by someone from Amnesty’s Indonesian office about Anderson last week. “But when he was arrested in 2004, it could be he may not be from Ghana,” said the officer.
“It could be he is a person from another country using a false passport.”
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana (With files from CNN, BBC & news.com.au)