Hobart will be lit by the glow of candlelight on Wednesday 4th February evening, when Hobart residents will stand in solidarity with at least 64 people who are on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling offences.
“The people are part of the worldwide Amnesty International movement that opposes the death penalty in any circumstance, for any person,” said Clare Wiseman, Tasmanian Branch President.
“We invite Hobart residents to the corner of Murray and Macquarie Streets, Hobart at 5.15 pm to light the flame of justice, and send a public message that Australians oppose state-sanctioned executions.”
The event is a response to comments by incoming Indonesian President Joko Widodo late last year that he would not grant clemency to at least 64 individuals who have been sentenced to death for drug-related crimes and that there were plans to execute all of them. These include Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, whose claims for clemency have been rejected in recent weeks.
Amnesty International is asking Australians to use the hashtag #KeepHopeAlive and sign Amnesty International’s petition calling for the executions to be stopped.
The death penalty has been proven not to work in deterring crime. It is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and it has no place in today’s justice system.
Amnesty International has been campaigning against the death penalty for the last 30 years, and most countries in the world have recognised the justice in this stance. When Amnesty International first pledged to abolish executions in the ‘70s, only a handful of countries had stopped killing people as a form of punishment; now 140 countries have abolished the practice.
Candlelight vigil against the death penalty
5.15 pm
Wednesday 4th February, 2015
Corner Murray and Macquarie Streets, Hobart
Clare Wiseman Branch President, Amnesty International Australia (Tasmania)
