Australia will pursue all legal options to save two of its citizens from execution in Indonesia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed Monday (Feb 16) amid reports the death penalty judges asked for bribes.
“I don’t want to peddle false hope but I do want everyone to understand … we are straining every fibre to help these people in a difficult position,” Abbott told reporters. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, on death row since 2006, face execution by firing squad as ring leaders of the so-called Bali Nine group trafficking heroin from Indonesia’s Bali island into Australia.
The pair recently lost their final appeals to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for clemency despite arguing that they had rehabilitated themselves in prison. No date has been announced for their executions, but governments with death row prisoners in Indonesia have been invited to the foreign ministry later Monday for an explanation of the process after a clemency appeal is rejected.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the six judges who handed down the death penalties in 2006 were accused by the pair’s lawyers of offering lighter sentences in exchange for money. The allegation is contained in a letter from the lawyers to Indonesia’s judicial committee claiming a breach of ethics, the newspaper said.
The lawyers, led by Todung Mulya Lubis, added that the judges came under pressure from “certain parties” to deliver death sentences, the daily said.
Asked about the corruption report, Abbott replied: “What we understand is that there are still legal options available to these two Australians and their legal teams. We certainly appreciate that the Indonesian government doesn’t normally go ahead with executions of this type while there are legal options still available. We will be trying to ensure that all legal options are exhausted before something dreadful, final and irrevocable takes place.”
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned last week that Australian tourists could boycott Indonesia if Chan, 31, and 33-year-old Sukumaran are executed. Widodo has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment and pledged a tough approach to end what he has called the nation’s “drug emergency”.
However, Abbott added: “I have made a further personal representation to President Widodo because we are obviously wanting to leave no stone unturned here.” But he said he did not want to turn the issue into a battle with Jakarta, “because if we do turn this into a test of strength, I think we are much more likely to back the Indonesians into a corner than to get the result we want”.
Story and photo by AFP
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