My brother Frank

By Monique Amado
(read at the Concert against the Death Penalty in Berlin on April 16th, 2011)

My name is Monique and I'd like to tell you about my brother, Frank Amado... 

On August 4, 2010, Frank was sentenced to death in Jakarta, Indonesia for a narcotics conviction. He was arrested outside his apartment in Jakarta on October 19, 2009 (after having been followed and watched for some time by police) for being a courier and keeper of Shabu, which is known in most parts of the world as Crystal Meth. His trial was anything but a trial. For one thing, the drugs which Frank had been storing in his apartment were switched out during the trial. It is a known fact to everyone in the prisons in Jakarta that the police sell (and use) these drugs themselves after confiscating them from those whom they arrest. When Frank tried to protest during his trial to point out that the drugs in the courtroom were not the same drugs that he had been arrested with, he was told he was out of line, and his concerns were completely ignored. In fact, the judge was indignant at Frank for even mentioning it, and threateningly told Frank that if he continued to question, he would make things harder for himself. Almost all of his trial was in Indonesian and, prior to this, during his interrogations he was threatened with torture if he didn't sign the police's version of what had happened. He was coerced and asked to sign documents he didn't understand. His lawyer was only present on occasion and even then, spent a good part of the time doodling on a piece of paper instead of defending Frank, as lawyers are supposed to do. His boss was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized. He has been witness to torture and beatings of others on numerous occasions since his arrest and imprisonment.  

He was never told what his rights are in Indonesia. He was simply given a paper by the U.S. Embassy basically stating that the Indonesian police has total authority, that whatever they say is the final word (regardless of evidence), and that the U.S. Government cannot intervene in any way. So, we are left to try and find a way, and to urge the U.S. Government to involve themselves as they are so adept at doing in many other situations the world over.  

I'd like to tell you a bit about my brother aside from his conviction which, sadly, is all that many people have come to define him by after learning about his crime.  

Frank is 47 years old. He is not just my only brother, but one of the dearest friends I've ever had, who has been there for me in hard times to encourage me and make me laugh as few people ever have. If you met him, you would be face to face with a person who is friendly, funny, jovial and tender-hearted—the kind of person who would look out for the best interest of others even if those others could care less about him. The kind of person who isn't afraid to cry with you when you're going through a difficult time. Did he commit a crime? Yes. Does he deeply regret having gotten involved with the underworld he now finds himself in? You bet. Does he deserve to die for it, or spend the rest of his life decaying in a third-world prison? Absolutely not.  

Frank is a U.S. Citizen, but had he been born just a few years later, he would have been eligible for dual citizenship with Germany and maybe it would be easier for us to find help from the German government than the U.S. government. Since most states in the U.S. accept the death penalty as a valid form of punishment, it is difficult to gain much support there from government officials unless we find officials who are already opposed to it. We can see how little of a deterrent to crime the death penalty has been there, and how ridden with flaws it is. 

Our mother is a Berlinerin in every sense of the word, and we spent many parts of our childhoods here in Berlin, riding the U-Bahns, going to the Ku'damm, and playing with our cousins and friends at our Tante Lotti's garden during Sommerfest at the Wannsee. As a child, Frank attended John F. Kennedy school while our father was stationed at Tempelhof. One of Frank's talents is art and we still have paintings and drawings of his with which he often won contests. He later became a graphic designer and worked for Microsoft and Boeing in Seattle, Washington before moving to Asia. 

But life takes us down many twists and turns, some which we could never anticipate and which seem very cruel and unfair. Yes, others may have made different choices, but as the old saying goes, it's best not to judge until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes.  

In 2006, much to my dismay, Frank left the States and moved to Thailand. For a while, he taught English to Thai school children, but the work was never steady and he could never depend on it. He also found work as an actor and did some commercial and film work. He and his new girlfriend sold real estate in Bangkok, but after the worldwide banking crisis, there was a quick decline in clientele and Frank was growing desperate to find ways of paying the mounting bills. It was at this point that Frank was introduced to the man for whom he started working in Indonesia as a courier. He had been offered similar work earlier on by a different friend, but had declined. When he was offered this time, he inquired as to the risks involved and was told that he might get some jail time, but not much else. Being desperate, he took the job and has lived to regret it.  

Here are some of the questions that remain for us:  

Why did Frank get this sentence while his boss has received “only” 15 years? Why did the others who were involved not do any time at all in prison? Well, the answer to that lies in the fact that they paid off the police early on with $28,000 and were let go. In Indonesia, money talks in a way that you cannot imagine. Why is it that the man who is lowest on the totem pole of this whole operation is getting a death sentence? The judge said Frank was being given a death sentence because he had “corrupted the children of Indonesia” and meanwhile, behind the scenes, Frank was told that if he came up with a “gift” of a large sum of money (in the amount of $50,000), he might be able to have his sentence reduced. His “crime” then really has become that he doesn't have enough money to pay to stay alive and not the actual crime itself.  

Further questions are: Why doesn't the United States government do anything to help its own citizen? The only “help” Frank gets from the Embassy is quarterly visits to ensure that he hasn't been tortured, yet a fellow U.S. inmate that Frank got to know was tortured and the U.S. Embassy did absolutely nothing, though they told me [his sister] that they didn't know of any U.S. Citizen having been harmed while in prison in Jakarta. 

While Frank languishes in a dirty, hot, cell not much bigger than a single-sized bed in a prison in one of the most corrupt countries in the world awaiting execution, we, as his family and friends, have yet to find any real and tangible help for him. He is on the last of his appeals to reduce his sentence.  

One of the great ironies of all this is that Frank is possibly the only person in the whole prison (including guards and police) who doesn't even do drugs!  

We ask you to please help us to get the word out, and if you know anyone at all who you think might be able to help us, please let us know. If you are on Facebook, please go to the page called Voices for Frank Amado, read more of his story, click “like” and watch for updates. On this page, we have an address for you to send postcards to Frank at the prison. He needs all the support and signs of hope he can get while he spends 16 hours a day locked in a cramped cell without adequate food, water or ventilation. 

We hope, and believe, that by our efforts and prayers for him, that he will one day be back here in Berlin where we spent many of our summers as children and he can, once again, head to the nearest Imbiss and have his favorite Berlin treat—Currywurst. I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you and thank you in person for caring and trying to help save his life.

Contact: mercy4frankamado@yahoo.com

More info at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Voices-for-Frank-Amado/181041721928185