last-minute efforts by Samuel Iwukchukwu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwalise...

last-minute efforts by Samuel Iwukchukwu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwalise to escape the firing squad failed after judges rejected their appeals for reviews of their convictions on the grounds that they had provided no new evidence. Okoye, 36, and Nwalise, 38, who were sentenced to death in 2001 for smuggling drugs, had sought leave to seek reviews from the Tangerang District Court, saying that they were remorseful for their acts.
"They offered no new evidence, which is a prerequisite before a convicted defendant can seek a review of his conviction by the Supreme Court," presiding judge Suparpto told a hearing.
"Besides, the two convict defendants had sought presidential pardons and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, through Presidential Decree No. 13/G/2004 dated July 9, 2004, had rejected their appeals," the judge added. Okeye was arrested on January 9, 2001, shortly after arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Madras, India. He was sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court on July 5, 2001, for smuggling 3.8 kilograms of heroin into the country. Nwalise was apprehended at the airport on January 29 after being caught carrying 600 grams of heroin on a Pakistani Airlines flight from Karachi. He was sentenced to death by the Tangerang District Court along with fellow Nigerian Okwudili Ayotanze, Zimbabwean Ozias Sibanda and Nepalese Indra Bahadur Tamang on August 14, 2001.