Bali 9: prosecutors call on supreme court to uphold death sentences of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran

Indonesian prosecutors have called on the country's supreme court to uphold the death sentences of Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (pictured).

Prosecutor Siti Sawiyah on Friday said death by firing squad was the appropriate punishment for the Sydney drug traffickers and that their final appeal - known as a judicial review - should be thrown out of court.

"These man have committed a crime that was organised, with a neatly arranged plan, it was orderly and secretive," Ms Sawiyah told the Denpasar District Court.

"The Indonesian Supreme Court in Jakarta, which will examine this case should ... reject the judicial review."

Fellow prosecutor Ida Ayu Sulasmi said the death penalty was necessary to deter others from committing similar crimes.

"The Indonesian people and society, especially the people of Bali, consider Bali a tourist destination and illegal distribution of narcotics is a serious threat that could alter the image of Bali tourism," she said.

Chan, 26, and Sukumaran, 29, were two of nine Australians convicted over a 2005 attempt to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Bali.

Their judicial review seeks to have their death sentences reduced to 20 years' prison.

Appeal hearings have been held in the Denpasar court, but the case will now be sent to the supreme court for a verdict.

The appeal rests in large part on evidence the men have been successfully rehabilitated and are now role models inside prison.

It also argues previous rulings against the men erred by finding them guilty of exporting drugs, even though they were caught before exportation actually occurred.

If the appeal fails, the pair will be forced to seek clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who generally takes a dim view of drug smugglers.

Fellow Bali Nine death row inmate Scott Rush's judicial review is also currently before the supreme court.

Five other members of the drug smuggling plot - Martin Stephens, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Than Nguyen - are serving life sentences.

The final member of the drug ring, courier Renae Lawrence, is serving a 20-year sentence.

Source: AAP, November 19, 2010

Bali Nine drug smugglers to make final court plea

Two Australians on death row for their role in the Bali Nine drug smuggling operation are expected to make a final bid to get their death sentences overturned at a hearing on Friday.

Earlier this week, 29-year-old Myuran Sukumaran and 26-year-old Andrew Chan spoke to SBS about the bungled attempt to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin out of Bali five years ago.

Sukumaran says he gets a lot of hate mail from Australians who tell him he deserves to die and joined the Bali Nine because he didn't want to work in a mailroom for the next 50 years of his life.

Chan says he's thankful that every day he gets to wake up and he's a pastor in the prison church.

Source: Sky News, November 19, 2010

Push for Bali Nine execution

INDONESIAN prosecutors yesterday urged that the Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran be executed, saying the punishment was just, supported by the Indonesian people and would act as a deterrent.

The prosecution argument concluded the hearings of the final legal appeal by the members of the so-called Bali nine heroin smuggling syndicate against the death penalty.

Chan and Sukumaran, who were not in court, have asked for their sentence to be commuted to a 20-year prison term, citing their rehabilitation in prison and that the crime was not serious enough to warrant the death sentence given Indonesia's recognition of the sanctity of life.

But the prosecutors argued: ''Every human has the right to live but upholding this right doesn't mean they are allowed to violate someone else's rights… Sentencing is not only to rehabilitate, but also to deter.''

Chan and Sukumaran can expect to hear the verdict in about six months, after the evidence from the Bali hearings has been sent to Jakarta and considered by a panel of judges.

The prosecutors agreed with the defence, that only the most serious crime should receive the death penalty, but said arranging the export of more than eight kilograms of heroin fitted into that category.

The prosecution's assessment was not unexpected. It is required to defend the decision of the previous court and the duo has been consistently handed the death sentence in each court case so far.

In the Australians' favour is that executions have not been carried out in Indonesia in the two years since a Constitutional Court ruling found the punishment should be used sparingly and those on death row should be given the chance to rehabilitate.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, November 20, 2010 (Australian Time)

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