The Last Three Days with Rodrigo Gularte by Christina W
My first meeting with Rodrigo Gularte - is a Brazilian citizen who had been held prison inmate - in Pasir Putih Penitentiary, Nusakambangan, took place in the middle of February 2009 when I attended the ministry led by Father Carolus, OMI. At that time we introduced ourselves to each other. Rodrigo was very polite and humble and he was the youngest of all convicts in the Chapel – the place of praying for the Catholic and Christian convicts in the penitentiary. In the following months, during my attendance in the ministry provided by Father Carolus, OMI – every Wednesday on the third week of a month – I started see an abnormality within Rodrigo and I had been accustomed to the abnormality since then. Most of the times I saw him speaking to the wall next to him both before and after the Mass. However, when I greeted him, Rodrigo was very communicative, polite and full of smiles. Whenever I finished my communication with him and whenever I saw him muttering alone, I always prayed for him, “Lord, please have mercy on him and please protect him always in the Pasir Putih Penitentiary because he suffered so much from his condition. Amen.”
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The introduction to Rodrigo had brought me to meet his family, namely his mother and his sister, Adriana, when they visited Rodrigo in the Pasir Putih Penitentiary. We managed to take pictures inside the Chapel, of course by the permission of Pasir Putih Penitentiary officers, because there was a gathering at that time. Finally, in the beginning of February 2015 I started to befriend with his cousin, Angelita Aparecida Muxfeldt, or also known as Angelita, precisely after we found that Rodrigo had been in the list of 10 convicts who would be given death penalty (putting a condemned person to death) for the second terms which execution had been unknown. My relationship with Angelita encouraged me to be one of the lawyer team1 members for the Rodrigo Gularte. I had the permission to be one of his lawyers from Angelita herself, right after she had withdrawn the Power of Attorney from the previous lawyer. The Power of Attorney had been given under the agreement made by both, the lawyer Team and Angelita in March, 12th, 2015. As one of the lawyers for Rodrigo, it happened that I stayed in Cilacap so it had been easy for me to pay a visit for Rodrigo. Every Tuesday and Thursday I and Angelita visited Rodrigo in the Pasir Putih Penitentiary, Nusakambangan. We could only meet him around 11:00 AM because we had several security checks from the Wijayapura Harbor until the Pasir Putih Penitentiary. Together with Angelita, we started our hardwork to free Rodrigo from the second term execution. Sadness, afraidness and intensity had been experienced by the family of the 10 convicts who had been put into the list of second term execution. We (the team of lawyers, Angelita and the representatives of the Embassy of Republic of Brazil) had conducted many adovcacy efforts since the Republic of 1
Rodrigo Gularte’s legal team consists of lawyers from LBH Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute), Kontras, JPIC-OMI, LAPDI, dan PJS.
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Indonesia Attorney General announced the name of the convicts that would be executed in the second term. One of the strong evidence that we attained from Rodrigo’s family (Angelita) and that we could use in our advocacy efforts was the results of psychiatric examination performed by a team of doctors from the Cilacap Regional Hospital (dr. Sri Rahayu Hartini, Sp.KJ and Prof. Dr. dr. H, Soewadi, MPH, SpKJ). The results of psychiatric examination in February 10 th, 2015 09:00 AM toward Rodrigo Gularte (42 years old) in the Polyclinic of Pasir Putih Penitentiary stated that the patient exposed the symptoms of chronic mental disorder with the diagnosis of Schizophrenia Paranoid and DD: bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms had any cogent evidence. Then, time to produced it that the team of psychiatrists suggested that Rodrigo should attain immediate treatment and intensive medication in an assylum. The strong evidence was also supported by the other evidence from Brazil and these evidence were afforded by Rodrigo’s family. Our first advocacy strategy was to propose a Guardianship Petition for Rodrigo in the Cilacap State Court. In this strategy, Angelita as the applicant’s guardianship for Rodrigo because she knew that Rodrigo suffered from the mental disorder since he was young. Our proposal had been accepted and would be put into trial on Wednesday, May 6th, 2015. In addition, we had also proposed for the second clemency and for the judicial review toward the Presidential Decree of Republic Indonesia Number 5/G Year 2015. We had informed all of these law efforts to the Attorney General order that the second-term execution would be postponed because the Attorney General should appreciate the law actions taken by the Rodrigo’s family. Unfortunately, the Attorney General did not appreciate these law efforts and they still proceeded the second-term execution to the 10 convicts and the second-term execution would be announced to the public officially in April 2015. The name of Rodrigo Gularte did exist in the list of 10 convicts that would be
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executed
and
the
10
convicts would be
executed
immediately in
Nusakambangan. Now, the time had come for the Attorney General to announce the notification toward the 10 convicts. In Friday, April 24th, 2015, at first I and Angelita altogether with the team of lawyers would like to meet Prof. Soewadi in Yogyakarta because we would like him to be the key witness for our guardianship petition at the Cilacap State Court. However, we should postpone the meeting because the Embassy of Republic of Brazil had been informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Indonesia that the Embassy should go to Cilacap in order to accompany Rodrigo Gularte and his family. To Angelita, the representative of the Embassy (Mr. Leonardo M.) stated that the process would be similar to the execution of Marco in the first term (at the end of January 2015). Dissapointment, fear, confusion and panickness had been overwhelming Angelita and the representative of the Embassy of Republic of Brazil as well as the team of lawyers since Thursday night, April 23rd, 2015. Saturday, April 25th, 2015, was the unforgettable day in our day and was the hardest day of my life as a lawyer. Sadness and fear had been overwhelming all of us. The representativs of the Embassy of Republic of Brazil (2 people), Angelita and 5 lawyers from the team had gathered in the Dafam Hotel waiting for the invitation of Indonesian Attorney General.
Then, we proceeded
immediately to the Cilacap Attorney Office because the Attorney General would announce the notification of Exeution to the 10 convicts. At 12:00 AM in that day all of us, including the embassy representatives, the families and the members of the lawyer teams from the 10 convicts, had been gathering in the Cilacap Attorney Office for hearing the announcement of the notification. It turned out that only one representative from embassy and one from lawyer team who was allowed to enter the room for the announcement of the notification. Right at that time, Angelita asked me to be 4
the representative of Rodrigo’s lawyer. I was mentally unprepared because I had been suffering from the mental tensions and the external pressures since I became one of Rodrigo’s lawyers. However, due to the trust that Angelita had given to me since the first time we established our relationship, I had the courage to be the representative. To be honest, I actually expected Ricky as the coordinator of the lawyer team to be our representative. Before I enter the room, I came over to Angelita and said, “Angelita please pray for me, I am affraid,” and she replied, “Yes, of course Christina. I will pray for you, don’t cry Christina please….for Rodrigo. You have to be strong!” Then, we hugged each other just to brace ourselves. Later on, we still had to wait for two hours without any assurance when the Team of Attorney General would come and announce the notification. Finally at 14.00 or so, the team of Executioner accompanied by the Staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the other authorized state officers entered the room and announced that: 1.
The notification of death penalty execution would be declared on this day (Saturday, April 25th, 2015) directly to the 10 convicts in the Besi Penitentiary and each of the 10 convicts would only be accompanied by one representative of the Embassy and one of the Lawyer. The family of each convicts might not accompany them. Therefore, all of us should proceed directly to the Besi Penitentiary.
2.
The family would be provided with special occasion in order to meet the convicts after the notification had been accepted.
3.
The parties that had been given authorization in point number 1 should immediately report their name to the related officers. Special transportation would be provided under the strict protection of the Grand Judiciary and the Police Department. At 15:30 we left the Cilacap Attorney Office to the Besi Penitentiary,
Nusakambangan, by means of our own vehicle because the coordination 5
instructed by the Cilacap Grand Judiciary started to be inspecific in terms of vehicle that would take us to the penitentiary. Once again Angelita hugged me while we were on our way to the guarding station and she whispered the following words, “Don’t cry, Christina, and be strong for Rodrigo. Okay?” However, I knew how hurt she was, just like what I had felt since the Wednesday night. I could not even say a word; instead, I nodded while I was holding myself not cry aloud. I felt my steps were heavy but I said to myself, “Christina, you have to be strong!!!” I (the representative of Lawyer team), Mr. Leonardo (the representative of Brazilian Embassy) and Mr. Lukman (the Embassy staff) – two staffs from the Embassy were allowed to accompany us to the Besi Penitentiary – arrived at the penitentiary in the evening around 16:30. It turned out that the notification was given one by one to each convict and we who accompanied Rodrigo had the last turn. At 19:00, we were finally able to meet Rodrigo in a room that had been full of the officers from the Attorney General as the team of Executor. Then, on the other table there were Okuwdili Ayotanze (Dili) (who will be execute too) and his lawyer. The three of us and Rodrigo were directed to go to one table where there had been three officers from the Attornet General. One of the executors delivered the notification strictly and immediately. First, he clarified Rodrigo’s personal biodata. I gave immediately the letter saying that Rodrigo should be accompanied by Father Carolus, O.M.I as his spiritual companion since Rodrigo was a Catholic. Then, the team of executors said, “Rodrigo, please listen to me carefully. We would like to inform that your clemency has been denied by the President of Republic of Indonesia under the Decree Number 5/G Year 2015. Therefore, the execution of your death penalty will be done in 3 days after the deliverance of the notification”. Rodrigo said, “This is a mistake, Sir, Ma’am! I won’t be executed! Several countries have been gathering around in order to talk about the death penalty and the death penalty has been declared to be inexistence in any country around the world, including Indonesia. So, I won’t be 6
executed. Drugs are usual things, just like liquors and cigarettes. The adults are free to decided whether they would like to consume them or not. I know, and all of you know, that there are more people who consume drugs in the same room.” In the same time, one of the officers said, “We will arrest the drug dealer soon.” Unfortunately, Rodrigo became more upset and he said, “This is a mistake. I just commit a single mistake but I should be prosecuted!” Then, he turned to me and he said, “Christina, help me!” That was the time I felt I could not say anything and I started to have a big sense of feeling guilty. Because Rodrigo was talking consecutively, suddenly one of the officers reprimanded him, “Rodrigo, stop! Silence!” I rubbed Rodrigo’s back to calm him and Rodrigo stopped talking. One of the executors, whose body was big and stuffed, standing and strongly said (in Bahasa Indonesia) , “Ma’am, you are his lawyer, aren’t you? Please listen to my explanation and translate it to your client. His clemency has been denied by the President. As a result, whether he like it or not, Rodrigo shall be executed in 3 x 24 hour from tomorrow. Within 3 x 24 hour he will be given time to meet his family and he is allowed to propose the 4 last wishes. We will try to fulfill his wishes as far as we are able to facilitate them.” When I translated the explanation, Rodrigo immediately replied, “I understand Christina, but there is something wrong in the notification. I won’t say anything because I won’t be executed”. Then, I said to the prosecutors, “Rodrigo has understood the notification, Sir, but he can’t accept it yet.” Once again, Rodrigo asked me while he was standing because he had been asked to return to the isolation, “Help me, Christina!” Before that, Rodrigo said to the prosecutors, “Sir, Ma’am, I’m terribly sorry for my being upset. I’m terribly sorry for that.” The prosecutors said, “Yes, Rodrigo, it’s not a big deal.” I felt helpless and I wanted to pass out, but I got to be strong for Rodrigo. I had a little time to meet him before he was taken to the isolation and I said, “See you tomorrow, Rodrigo. We will visit you again with Angelita.” He replied, “Yes, please. Help me, Christina.” It would be the last line from him before he spoke to Mr. Leonardo. 7
When I tried to strengthen myself from the sense of feeling guilty, because I would not be able to escape him from the death penalty 3 days later, one of the executors who wore glasses said, “Mrs. Christina, please explain to Rodrigo once again that he should accept the notification and you should inform us the 4 last wishes that Rodrigo would like to propose. According to the regulation, we should provide Rodrigo’s will before the execution” While nodding, I said to myself, “Lord, please encourage Rodrigo and us.” On the way home by bus from Besi Penitentiary to the Sodong Ferry, I cried all the time. Mr. Leonardo let me to cry out all the sadness and the dispair that I was experiencing because he knew that I would not cry in front of Angelita. Once in a while he supported me by tapping my shoulder. First Day Sunday, April 26th, 2015, was the first day of visitation for Angelita after the notification of prosecution had been announced. The ones who visited Rodrigo were Mr. Leonardo, Angelita, Ricky and I. We were able to meet Rodrigo around 11:00 and were given a chance to meet Rodrigo until 15:00. All of the family members, the spiritual companion, the representatives of each embassy and the lawyer teams from the 9 convicts who would be executed started their meeting. We could sense a deep sadness, confusion, fear and tense from one to another. Whenever I looked Rodrigo’s face and Angelita’s face during our meeting and conversation, I had a deep sense of sorrow that I had not ever experienced before. Whenever I saw the smile on Rodrigo’s face, I had a strong sense of feeling guilty inside me. Therefore, most of the time I looked down on the floor especially when my tears fell apart; after I encouraged myself, I could take a look on Rodrigo and Angelita. The executor from the last night meeting; he came to me and he explained once again that I should get the last four wishes from Rodrigo. I would like to say, “Satan, you are, Sir!” However, I said, “You should be patient a little bit more, Sir. Rodrigo has a mental disorder, so we should be
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careful and be more patient.” At the afternoon, Rodrigo said that “Padang Rice” (Nasi Padang) was his favourite menu during his time in Pasir Putih Penitentiary. Rodrigo asked Ricky and me as his lawyer to work hard for him next morning. Rodrigo said that we should not be in that room tomorrow and both of us should work hard for him. We informed him that we would do our best to help him out. Rodrigo thanked all of us who had been his lawyers and had been helping him.
Second Day Monday, April 27th, 2015, was the second day of visitation. At this day, Angelita was the only one who visited Rodrigo. Meanwhile, we had coordination with the other lawyers in Jakarta as our team; we tried to had a hearing session with the Attorney General, Mr. M. Prasetyo and to propose a law suit to the National Court of Administration; we also committed other litigation efforts. Mr. Leonardo and Father Carolus, O.M.I. as the spiritual companion visited Rodrigo at 13:00, accompanying Angelita who had come first. As the executor had said, Rodrigo was given a chance to have communication with his mother and his relatives in Brazil by means of telephone line provided by the Attorney General officer. This call had been considered as one of Rodrigo’s wishes that had been proposed by Angelita, his cousin. At the evening before Angelita, Father Carolus and Mr. Leonardo left the penitentiary, they should sign a statement saying that Rodrigo had been denied to be cremated and had asked to be sent back home to Brazil. This statement had been considered as another Rodrigo’s last wish. The reason was that Rodrigo would like to go home; he had been saying the same thing over and over when Angelita and I visited him in Pasir Putih Penitentiary.
Third Day Tuesday, April 28th, 2015, was the third or the last day of visitation. It was the last day for to meet Rodrigo and also for the other convicts. It would be last 9
meeting time for the convicts and the family members, the embassy representatives, the spiritual companion and the lawyer teams. In the last meeting, we were allowed to meet Rodrigo until 14:00. When Rodrigo showed up, he said, “I am terribly sorry for bothering all of you: Angelita, Leonardo, Father Carolus and Christina and also the other members of the lawyer team.” Almost altogether in the same time, we replied, “It’s not a big deal.” Then, Rodrigo told us about his dream; he said that he had a dream last night and in that dream he kept blaming himself. I looked at him all the time with an awareness that I would not see him alive tomorrow. Once in a while, Rodrigo looked at me and suddenly he said, “Christina, I believe you must have been tired.” I replied, “Not at all, Rodrigo.” Then, while smiling Rodrigo replied, “Yes, you look very tired.” I always remembered how he smile and how he support me. I would like to use this occasion to say something to him. “Rodrigo, thank you very much. You are the best client I have ever met in my life. You teach me how I should remember the animals while I was eating some fruits.” Rodrigo responded me by nodding his head and smiling. Just at the time when we had to leave, since our visitiation time had been over, we hugged Rodrigo and I could not even say a word. My eyes started watering and Rodrigo said, “Don’t cry, Christina. Thank you.” A hysteria broke among the family members of the other nine convicts that would be prosecuted and this hysteria became a memory of sorrow that might be unfortgettable from anyone who stayed inside the Besi Penitentiary at that afternoon, including the executors. Angelita always hugged his beloved cousin while waiting for the call from the officers. Andrew Chan’s mother and relatives cried all the time and so did Myuran Sukumaran’s mother and sisters; their cry cut through my heart. Mary Jane even was mad at herself because she had not been informed that the visitation time would end at 14:00. I could not even see how terrible it was for her children since they were very young. In order to encourage myself, I tried to have communication with the Lord, “Lord, if all the 10
people who agreed with the death penalty stay in the land of Indonesia and witness and even experience the death penalty itself, they would demand that the death penalty would be deprieved from this country.” Before returning to Sodong, all of us waited for the very personal belongings of Rodrigo; these belongings would be transported by the officers from the Pasir Putih Penitentiary to the Besi Penitentiary. These belongings should be transported home because Angelita would like to do so. We still had the deep sorrow once again because tonight from 20:00 until 00:35 Angelita, Mr. Leonardo and I should wait for the prosecution time in Sodong Ferry Harbour, Nusakambangan, should wait moments of death penalty execution of nine convicts – who had been like our brothers and sisters – were in front of the shooting group inside Nusakambangan, the place is in the behind of the Police Station around 2 km from Sodong. Right at 24:00, we saw a line of cars who brought the convicts and their spiritual companion from far away and, due to the lights of the car, we could also see the dark space at left side of the Police Station in Sodong. When the lights of the car went out, we lit up our candles and the numbers of the candles had been based on the numbers of convicts from the first term (January execution) and the second term. All of us sat in front of the candles and we prayed according to our language and religion. I did the Rosary prayer while I was trying to encourage myself so that I would be able to face the worst thing. 30 minutes later, we heard several shots and, finally, we heard a single shot, “Bang!”
All of us screamed altogether in the same time and we cried aloud while holding to each other’s hand. I felt like I was about to pass out and I held Angelita in order to encourage myself. I could only say, “I am so sorry Angelita, I am so sorry.” Then, Angelita, within her cry, tried to encourage me. Because I was 11
shocked, I could not listen to her words, then I prayed “Lord, please forgive me because I can’t help Rodrigo to escape from the shooting group.” I kept saying the same thing over and over during the midnight. At that time, I imagined Rodrigo’s body who had been fallen from the pole. I whispered this line to myself, “Good bye, Rodrigo, my beloved brother. You will enjoy the eternal happiness with our God in the heaven. Please pray for us, Rodrigo.” I sensed deeper sorrow when finally around 4:00 the three of us (I, Angelita and Father Carolus) should see the deadbody of Rodrigo Gularte inside the ambulance nomber 6, because we should make sure that the deadbody was Rodrigo himself. “My God and My Lord” was the only line that I could speak when I saw him. I could not see the smile that had been encouraging me all the time. “Goodbye Rodrigo, please rest in peace.” The bitter experience has made me felt useless as a lawyer. In other words, I have totally failed to be a good lawyer for my client, someone who suffer from Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. I tried to help him out of the prosecution but he was finally shot in Nusakambangan.
Finally, I have been able to finish the article although I have exposed again the bitter sorrow that I used to experience. Thanks a lot for the support and the trust from my lovely Angelita and Ayu (ELSAM) so that I have been able to finish the article.
Cilacap, July 7th, 2015 Christina Widiantarti, S.H. Working for YSBS and JPIC-OMI in Indonesia
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