Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ordered on Friday, February 10, that "additional steps" be taken, including a new call for clemency, to save Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, a Brazilian, from the death penalty in Indonesia.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty) press office affirmed on Friday that it had already taken such steps. The Brazilian Embassy in Jakarta is in touch with Moreira’s lawyer to examine the possibility of a new clemency appeal just as soon as the sentence is pronounced officially, which is expected to occur this week.
The Indonesian government has already decided that Moreira will face a firing squad, after he pled guilty to attempting to enter the country in August, 2003, transporting 13.4 kilograms of cocaine hidden in his hang glider gear. The Itamaraty also informed that president Lula is accompanying the case with great attention.
According to the Ministry, Moreira’s previous appeal to the President of Indonesia for clemency was denied by government authorities in that country.
In its note the Ministry also says that, in March, 2005, and January, 2006, president Lula requested Indonesian president, Susilo Yudhoyono, to grant clemency and reduce the sentence. A similar request was filed with the Indonesian judiciary.
In all these petitions it was emphasized that, while the seriousness of the crime was acknowledged, Brazilian law does not recognize the death penalty, and its application to a Brazilian citizen "would cause tremendous consternation in national public opinion."
Agência Brasil
