Namaona Denis

Nigeria/ Malawi

1967 – January 18, 2015

In 2001, Denis was arrested after swallowing just under 1kg of heroin and attempting to smuggle it from Karachi, Pakistan into Jakarta.

He was travelling on a stolen passport of a Malawi man, Namaona Denis, and continued to use this identity until his death. This was in part due to authorities dismissal of his real identity, which resulted in him being executed under his false name and nationality. All that is known of his real identity is that he was from Nigeria and his name was Solomon.

He originally received a life sentence, however in 2014, a not-for-profit legal team lodged an appeal on his behalf, and without his permission. This appeal resulted in his sentence being upgraded to the death penalty.

While in prison he met his wife, an Indonesian women who was visiting the prison and whom he fathered his now twelve-year-old child with.

During the early hours of January 18, 2015, Denis was executed along with five other drug criminals on the prison island of Nusakambangan.