India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (AP Photo) India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (AP Photo)

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that the government was making last minute efforts to save an Indian man facing execution on Thursday in Indonesia in a drug related case.

Gurdip Singh (48) was found guilty by Indonesian authorities of trying to smuggle drugs into the country.

“Gurdip Singh is facing death sentence in a drug case in Indonesia.”

“We are making last minute efforts to save him from execution on July 28,” Swaraj said in a series of tweets.

Gurdip Singh is facing death sentence in a drug case in Indonesia. /1 @NukteVivek — Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 27, 2016

We are making last minute efforts to save him from execution on 28 July. /2 @NukteVivek — Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 27, 2016

Singh was reportedly given death sentence by a district court in Indonesia’s Tanggerang Banten province.

Singh, who hails from Jalandhar in Punjab, is among 14 people who are facing execution after the authorities decided to resume implementing death penalties. The decision was criticised by human rights organisations.

The 14 drug convicts that may be executed this weekend include people from at least four nationalities i.e. Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India, the attorney general, Muhammad Prasetyo, said on Wednesday. Indonesia is stepping up a “war on drugs”, according to the attorney general.

News of the impending executions prompted condemnation from the United Nations and the European Union.

The UN human rights chief expressed alarm and urged Indonesia to reinstate a moratorium on the death penalty that was suspended in 2013.

“I find it deeply disturbing that Indonesia has already executed 19 people since 2013, making it the most prolific executioner in South-East Asia,” said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

The EU also called on Indonesia to halt all executions.

“The death penalty is a cruel and inhumane punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity,” a spokeswoman for the EU foreign policy chief said in a statement.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the UN Human Rights Office is “deeply concerned” by death penalty cases that lack transparency and compliance with the right to receive a fair trial, including the right to an appeal.

“The increasing use of the death penalty in Indonesia is terribly worrying and I urge the government to end this practice, which is unjust and incompatible with human rights,” Zeid said in a statement.

“We understand that there is a camp that does not agree with us, but no matter what, this is not a pleasant work but it still has to be done,” Prasetyo said.

The Indonesian officials have not provided the exact date on which the executions will take place.

(With agencies inputs)

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