Zainal Abidin has vowed his execution will release his "restless soul" to haunt those responsible for the injustice he says has destroyed his life. Credit:Aris Andrianto As Zainal went back to sleep, Aldo took off aiming to sell one kilo of the drug. He was arrested and pointed the finger at Zainal. For an impoverished labourer, the likelihood of him having enough money to purchase such a large quantity of drugs was unlikely. Zainal claims that he was beaten badly by police. "He thought he would get a permanent disability, so he confessed he was the organiser," previous lawyers state in the appeal document to the Supreme Court.

His explanation was rejected by the court, even though he presented his bruised body as evidence, court records show. While Zainal's account of the events that led to his arrest cannot be independently confirmed, his treatment by the Indonesian justice system is a matter of public record. And the personal ordeal he has suffered is extraordinary. "I can't accept this unjust legal treatment ... for the little people like me," he says in a letter written on March 5. "If the execution to be carried out ... I will be a restless soul and will seek revenge, including to the children and wives of all the law enforcement involved." It's a dramatic threat and one many Indonesians would take seriously: belief in ghosts is widespread.

Aldo is now free after being given generous remissions but Zainal, on appeal, was handed a death sentence, even though prosecutors had originally asked for a 15-year term. He lodged a judicial review of his case in 2005. In the highly bureaucratic and chaotic Indonesian legal system, the documents simply went missing. With no money and no support, Zainal could not track down what had happened. Languishing in despair in prison, a prosecutor suggested he ask for clemency from then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2011. If he didn't, death was certain, he was told. Clemency petitions are supposed to be adjudicated within three months under Indonesian law, but Zainal had to wait for a new president - Joko Widodo - to rule on it. "How shocked I am to hear on January 9th, 2015 that my clemency was rejected by President Jokowi," he wrote.

Last month, Zainal's parents' home burnt down. Last week, his brother had a heart attack and died after hearing from prosecutors in Palembang that they would have one last chance to see Zainal as the executions were imminent. The family had no money to travel to Nusakambangan prison in central Java to see him. A few days later, Indonesia's attorney general announced there would be a delay in the executions. The family may have had time to scrounge up the money for a visit. Zainal's wife - who was sentenced to three years in prison for failing to report a crime, even though she was asleep when Aldo arrived at her house - won't visit and has remarried. Zainal hasn't seen his daughter since his arrest, when she was one month old. Despite the widespread belief among Indonesians - backed by overwhelming evidence - that their police and judicial system are the country's most graft-ridden institutions, Mr Joko, elected on an anti-corruption platform, sees it differently.

As he told al-Jazeera last week: "I am still convinced that the justice system in Indonesia, if you look at drug crime, is still valid, and is based on facts and evidence." Lawyer Ade Yuliawan took Zainal's case pro bono, soon after Zainal's clemency petition was rejected. He tracked down the missing judicial review documents in Palembang in January. Zainal's was moved to Nusakambangan's prison complex, the new home of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, five years ago. Finally, his judicial review will be considered by the Supreme Court. The question remains though - will Zainal get a fair hearing? And will his stay of execution last the many months that such judicial reviews usually take, if the merits of the case are weighed properly?

"Indonesia is a country based on the rule of law, not one based on presidential instructions. My client better receive a fair trial and due process this time," said Mr Yuliawan.