Bali Nine pair land to face fire
Abbott ‘revolted’ by looming executions
CILACAP: Two Australian drug smugglers were transferred on Wednesday to a Java island for execution, in a move that has “revolted” Australia, said Prime Minister Tony Abbott after frantic diplomatic efforts to save them.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug smuggling gang, were woken and given a few minutes to get ready before leaving Bali’s Kerobokan jail, said local justice ministry official Nyoman Putra Surya.
The men, sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, said “thank you” before leaving, and “we handcuffed them and they were quiet”, he added.
Mr Chan’s brother, Michael, tried to see him before the transfer but was denied entry— a decision taken by prison authorities because “today is not visiting day”, said Mr Surya.
More than 200 police and soldiers as well as water cannons were stationed outside the Bali prison as the men, in their early 30s, were driven out through a scrum of journalists.
The pair were flown to Cilacap, on Java island, on a chartered flight accompanied by military aircraft.
The two armoured vehicles, escorted by police, then boarded a boat at the local port which crossed to Nusakambangan island— home to several high security prisons and where the pair will be executed, a reporter at the scene said.
The men recently lost their appeals for presidential clemency. Officials have yet to announce a date for their executions, but the transfer indicates it is imminent.
Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo said on Wednesday that final preparations, such as training the firing squads, were still being made before the date could be set for execution of the Australians and several other drug offenders.
Mr Abbott, who has repeatedly called for Jakarta not to proceed with the executions, said Australians are sickened by the developments.
“We frankly are revolted by the prospect of these executions,” he said, adding that “right now millions of Australians are feeling sick in their guts”.
Mr Abbott said he hoped there might be a “change of heart in Indonesia”, but added: “What I don’t want, though, is to hold out false hope.”
But, he added, “I hope that even at this late hour, the better angels of the Indonesian peoples’ nature will reassert themselves.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told parliament she spoke with the families of Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran and they were “devastated”. Attorney-General George Brandis said the government had made at least 22 representations to Indonesian officials since January.
President Joko Widodo has been unswayed by the barrage of international appeals, insisting that Indonesia is facing an “emergency” due to rising narcotics use, and Mr Prasetyo reiterated the government’s tough line.
“We want to send a message to all parties and to the international community that Indonesia is working hard to battle drug crimes,” explained Mr Prasetyo.
Indonesia executed six people, including five foreigners, in January, sparking a diplomatic storm as Brazil and the Netherlands — whose citizens were among those put to death — recalled their ambassadors.
Officials have said gathering convicts on Nusakambangan is the final stage before the executions.
The Australians’ lawyers have launched a series of last-ditch legal bids to stop the executions, urging authorities not to kill the men while the legal process is still ongoing.
Brazil and France have also ramped up pressure, with Paris summoning Indonesia’s envoy and the Brazilian president refusing to accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador.
The Filipina facing execution, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, has lodged an application for a judicial review of her case, a move the Australians attempted unsuccessfully.
On Wednesday a district court near Yogyakarta decided the Supreme Court should make a ruling on whether to proceed with the appeal, as it did not have the authority.