Barney Greenway uses his influence to try and convince the metal-loving president to overturn a number of death sentences in the country.

It’s not often members of grindcore bands get involved in international sentencing disputes, but that’s just what Barney Greenway – frontman of the long-running West Midlands four-piece – has done. Indonesian president Joko Widodo is apparently a fan of metal and especially Napalm Death – evident from the image above – and Greenway has tried to use his influence to overturn the executions of a number of prisoners on death row in the country.

Last week Metal Injection reported that Greenway had appealed to Widodo to show humane treatment to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two Australian metal fans facing the death penalty after being caught smuggling heroin into the country.

Despite President Widodo previously stating he would reject all clemency appeals from drug convicts, Greenway has penned a letter to the President in the hope their mutual appreciation of metal can cause him to reconsider. As he notes in the plea, the band’s “lyrics and ethos challenge the unbroken cycle of violence in the world,” and he believes “granting clemency would be a major step forward in this pursuit of betterment”.

This week The Independent reported Greenway’s further involvement, this time in the case of a British grandmother facing execution by firing squad after being discovered with £1.6 million of cocaine in May 2012. Lindsay Sandford, 57, claims she was forced to carry the drugs by dealers who threatened the lives of her children, and Greenway wrote a further letter to appeal to the president to spare her life.

President Widodo has yet to respond to either letter, the first of which can be read in full below.

Dear Mr Widodo,

I am writing to you again to appeal for mercy and restraint, this time regarding the case of Lindsay Sandiford, a prisoner from the UK who it would seem is facing the prospect of imminent execution on the grounds of cocaine trafficking.

My request for a considered, humane perspective extends to all prison detainees, but particularly in the case of Lindsay Sandiford it would appear that she was under duress to transport drugs, with her family under threat if she did not comply.

Speaking generally, there have been countless miscarriages of justice and excessive punishments throughout history, and when the designated penalty is death I would suggest that someone potentially faced with no option but to bow to such a threat deserves far greater hearing and protection from the gravest of penalties.

Currently, Lindsay Sandiford has not seemingly been afforded the legal resources to present her case, so to deal with her case in the cruellest way would be to do so on a partial hearing of the facts at hand and not upon any form of justice as I understand the concept.

For the second time, Mr Widodo, I would ask you to raise yourself above the threshold of all those in power that merely pretend to make changes for the better. To my mind, your election platform promises of moves toward a more egalitarian civic structure means protection at all levels – and capital punishment can only take things backwards in that respect.

I ask you to please keep these promises at the forefront of your mind and urgently give your attention to Lindsay Sandiford’s plight.

In peace and hope, as ever

Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway (Napalm Death)