Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran may avoid death row: prison governor

Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran

Two Australians on death row in Bali should have their sentences reduced to life, the Kerobokan prison governor has announced.

And other Bali Nine drug mules who have applied for their life sentences to be reduced to a fixed term should also have their wish granted.

Bali Nine members Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan appealed to the Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about two years ago for a grant of clemency, so they would not have to face the firing squad.

But the president — whose term ends in October — has given no indication yet whether he will grant it.

“It’s just something simple. I just don’t want to be shot, really,” Sukumaran said yesterday.

Kerobokan prison governor Farid Junaedi told reporters at a ceremony to mark Indonesia’s independence day in Bali on Sunday that he had made “several recommendations” for sentence reductions for good behaviour.

“These include the Bali Nine — from death sentence to life, and from life to a fixed term [which is usually 20 years],” Mr Farid said.

It's the first time the Bali prison governor has announced he has made a recommendation. Prison staff said it was submitted earlier this year to the central government in Jakarta.

It’s believed that Dr Yudhoyono is reluctant to make the call to reduce the life sentence for Chan and Sukumaran because it would seem he was favouring foreign drug traffickers and Australian nationals. This would be deeply politically unpopular in Indonesia.

However, it’s hoped that the outgoing president may take the opportunity offered by the end of his presidential term to make that decision.

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Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Michael Bachelard, August 17, 2014

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