Australian Bali 9 convicts to face firing squad after Indonesian President rules out pardoning any drug convicts on death row

Self-portrait by Myuran Sukumaran

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, from Sydney, are on death row. They have lost all appeals against their death sentences in Bali

Bali Nine inmates Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be killed by firing squad after Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo ruled out issuing pardons for any drug convicts on death row.

The 2 Australians, jailed in Kerobokan Prison, applied for clemency from the country's former president 2 years ago but it was ignored.

'I will reject clemency request submitted by 64 death convicted of drugs cases,' Mr Joko said during a lecture at Gadjah Mada University on Tuesday.

If Mr Joko's comments are taken at face value it means Chan and Sukumaran now have no hope for avoiding the death penalty.

According to Indonesian news website Kompas.com, Mr Joko said most of the prisoners had 'destroyed the future of the nation'.

He said the rejection of clemency served as 'important shock therapy' for drug dealers, traffickers and users.

Mr Joko also revealed during an appearance at a Yogyakarta State University for Human Rights Day that the requests for clemency had remain untouched for years under his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

'I'm asking now, what should I do? For years no decisions have been taken. I say now I will issue no pardon for drugs [criminals],' he clarified.

Mr Joko's new policy will condemn Chan, Sukumaran and more than 60 other drug prisoners to the firing squad.

The comments come just a week after the president's office announced that five convicts would be executed by the end of the month.

Chan and Sukumaran, from Sydney, were arrested in 2005.

Chan was stopped at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali's capital Denpasar and Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with 3 others.

According to court testimonies of convicted drug mules, Chan and Sukumaran were the co-ringleaders of a heroin smuggling operation from Indonesia to Australia.

Police found 334 g (11.8 oz) of heroin in a suitcase in the room with Sukumaran which was allegedly going to be smuggled.

After a criminal trial, on 14 February 2006 Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to execution by firing squad by the Denpasar District Court.

They both pleaded for clemency from former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before he left office.

In June, Daily Mail Australia reported how Sukumaran had entered a self-portrait for consideration for the Archibald Prize from his jail cell in Bali - but his painting wasn't considered because he was locked up abroad.

He had hoped to compete for the prestigious art prize that includes $75,000 in cash.

Sukumaran turned to art while serving his death row sentence in Bali, while Chan has turned to Christianity and hopes to become a pastor if he is released.

The men's friends and family have been running an appeal, pleading for mercy, for years.

Brigid Delaney co-founder of the Mercy Campaign, an online petition collecting signatures of people appealing for clemency for the men, said that the campaign would continue.

'Please visit the Mercy Campaign website and sign our petition if you believe that the lives of Myuran and Andrew should be spared.'

Article 14 of the Indonesian Constitution gives the President a broad power to grant clemency. It doesn't mean the prisoner walks free from jail; in a death penalty case it means the prisoner stays in jail but does not face execution.

The Mercy appeal says: 'Andrew and Myuran have now admitted and apologised for their crimes. They are doing their best to better themselves and help those around them.

'Andrew and Myuran were convicted of trafficking drugs from Indonesia to Australia. They admit they committed that crime. They admit that they were selfish and greedy and they have now completely reformed. Their crime was not a violent one.

'Andrew and Myuran agree that they deserve punishment. They do not deserve to be executed by firing squad.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sukumaran's lawyer for comment.

Source: Daily Mail, December 10, 2014

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