Bali Nine duo await appeal decision in last bid to be saved from firing squad
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Version 0 of 1. The two men sentenced to death for their part in the Bali Nine smuggling attempt continue to wait for the outcome of their last chance at being saved from the firing squad. The assessment of a second judicial review of the case against Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan was expected early this week, but a spokesman for the Indonesian attorney general, Muhammad Prasetyo, has told Guardian Australia the district court in Denpasar was still continuing its deliberations. The final avenue of appeal, known as a PK, was successfully filed on Friday morning on behalf of Chan and Sukumaran. It was an unprecedented move by the pair’s legal team, and one which divided Indonesia’s constitutional and supreme courts over whether prisoners were allowed more than one. Chan’s former lawyer, Nyoman Sudiantara, told Guardian Australia that PKs are often successful but filing a second one was largely unheard of in Indonesian narcotics cases. The two men were sentenced to death for their part in a heroin smuggling attempt in 2005. Appeals and campaigns have focused on the successful rehabilitation of both men in their 10 years in prison. Lawyers are appealing for their sentences to be commuted to life in jail, in the hope they can continue their programs and efforts supporting other inmates. Prasetyo has said the appeal – which reportedly included handwritten letters from the two men – would not stop the executions but by late Tuesday at least, no decision had been made. The families of Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, and the Australian consul general in Bali, Majell Hind, visited the pair again on Tuesday, as Sukumaran continued with his art classes for fellow prisoners at Kerobokan prison. The Australian artists Ben Quilty and Matthew Sleeth visited the prison to hold the long-scheduled art class with Sukumaran and said they hoped the Indonesian authorities would take pride in the program and “celebrate” the prison system’s successful rehabilitation and not carry out the executions. Speaking outside the prison, Quilty said the two men were holding up surprisingly well. “They are carrying an enormous weight on their shoulders but they are still hopeful,” said Quilty. Sleeth, who has been conducting the art classes with Sukumaran and Quilty since their inception, said the workshops helped the other prisoners and built skills in the prison and furthered rehabilitation efforts. “The rehabilitation has been such a success and the authorities in the jail have had such success in rehabilitating its prisoners, now it would be real shame to end that rather than celebrate that,” said Sleeth. “I think they have done something very silly and they deserve to be punished and I think they deserve to have a long prison sentence decided by Indonesia’s court, but I think after such a successful rehabilitation and after so much effort by the Indonesian authorities and the Indonesian jail to facilitate these programs and make the art room work, it would be a real shame to end it rather than let it continue.” Last week Prasetyo said pleas for clemency and talk of the men’s rehabilitation in the PK did not constitute new evidence but he would not interfere in the court process. The two Australians would be among the next group of prisoners executed, Prasetyo announced on Monday, but various matters, such as the weather, had to be considered before setting a date for the next round of executions. “We’re just waiting for the right time,” he said. “Their judicial aspects have been finished and certainly we are now in the stage of preparation for their death-penalty execution.” Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, has remained resolute in his decision to go ahead with the executions. “In one year, it’s 18,000 people who die because of narcotics,” he said last week. “We are not going to compromise for drug dealers. No compromise. No compromise.” Nyoman told Guardian Australia on Monday he believed political differences between Indonesia and Australia were likely to have played some part in the decisions so far – including Widodo’s refusal to grant clemency. Six people were executed last month, including five foreigners. The deaths were the first in more than a year and prompted the Netherlands and Brazil to withdraw their ambassadors in protest against the killing of their citizens. |