Bishop warns over executions

Foreign minister pleads for death row nationals

DENPASAR/SYDNEY: Australia stepped up pressure on Indonesia yesterday to spare the lives of two drug smugglers facing the firing squad, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warning their execution would be a grave injustice.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the Australian ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” heroin drug smuggling gang, were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the next year.

The pair recently lost their final appeals for clemency to Indonesian president Joko Widodo despite arguing they had rehabilitated themselves in prison. They may be put to death this month.

In an emotional speech in parliament, Ms Bishop pleaded for their lives.

“This motion goes to the heart of what we believe will be a grave injustice against two Australian citizens facing execution in Indonesia,” she said, adding that the pair made “shocking mistakes” but deserved another chance.

“We are not understating the gravity of the nature of these crimes.

“Without doubt, Andrew and Myuran need to pay for their crimes with lengthy jail sentences, but they should not need to pay with their lives.”

Indonesian authorities have already informed Canberra they intend to proceed with the executions, despite public appeals from Bishop and Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Lawyers for the men on Wednesday lodged a rare legal challenge to the president’s decision to reject their appeals for clemency, taking the unusual step of challenging Mr Widodo’s decision to refuse them a pardon.

Indonesian authorities have repeatedly said the appeal for clemency is a death row convict’s final chance to avoid the firing squad, but the men’s lawyers believe their move could at least delay the executions.

“Our shared hope is the Indonesian government and its people will show mercy to Andrew and Myuran,” said Ms Bishop.

“Both men have made extraordinary efforts to rehabilitate. Andrew and Myuran are the model of what penal systems the world over long to achieve.”

In Jakarta, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi offered little hope.

“The government has consistently carried out its policies related to the problem of drug crimes,” she said.

“In the past, Indonesia was a transit country. Now Indonesia has become one of the biggest destinations for drug trafficking. Of course, we must ask whether we can let this crime continue. What is the price to be paid by Indonesia’s young generation?”

She had spoken twice to Ms Bishop on the phone and received two letters from the minister.

“This is not against any one country... this is against a crime, against an extraordinary crime.”

Mr Widodo is a vocal supporter of capital punishment and warned Indonesia is facing a drugs emergency, with addictions and deaths increasing.

The men’s lawyers claim it is “unacceptable” for the president to use blanket arguments to refuse mercy.

The wife of a Frenchman also on death row in Indonesia for drug offences said on Wednesday she will continue to fight for his release despite fears he might be executed soon.

Serge Atlaoui, has a “sword of Damocles hanging over his head”, his wife Sabine Atlaoui told an anti-capital punishment press conference.

The Frenchman, 51, saw his appeal for clemency rejected in January by President Widodo.

“He is scared that he will never see his children again,” said Atlaoui’s wife, who said she is still “holding on to hope” and he is “innocent”.

Atlaoui, a father of four, was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 in a secret laboratory producing ecstasy. He was sentenced to death in 2007 on drug trafficking charges.

Imprisoned in Indonesia for 10 years, he has always denied the charges saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory.

According to local media reports, Atlaoui, one of seven foreigners on Indonesia’s death row, could soon face execution.

His lawyer in Indonesia filed a request last Tuesday for a trial review, a last-ditch attempt to save his client’s life.

French president Francois Hollande also wrote to Mr Widodo last month asking him to grant Atlaoui a reprieve, the spokesperson said.

An estimated 12 Indonesians and foreigners are on death row following drug offence convictions in a country with the some of the toughest drug laws globally.

The country executed six drug offenders last month, five of them foreigners.