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Indonesia's Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo |
Indonesia’s Attorney-General says the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran may be delayed because it “doesn’t look good (to) shoot them” during a major international conference.
However, from April 19 to 24 President Joko Widodo will host the 60th anniversary Asia-Africa Conference, to which more than 100 heads of state and national leaders have been invited.
“It doesn’t look good if, when we have guests, we shoot them, although this is legal,” Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo said yesterday.
Asked if the conference meant delaying the executions on Nusakambangan penal island until the end of the month or beyond, Mr Prasetyo replied: “I don’t say that, but it’s one of our considerations.”
He insisted, however, that
a Constitutional Court case mounted by Chan and Sukumaran’s lawyers would not be another cause of delay. The Australians’ chief Indonesian lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, is expected today to lodge a suit asking the Constitutional Court to define the President’s obligations in dealing with applications for clemency.
Mr Joko has issued a blanket refusal to grant clemency to drug convicts on death row.
“The Bali Nine duo’s decision to go to the Administrative Court was irregular but we had to respect it and (on Monday) it was decided,” Mr Prasetyo said.
Asked if there would be a further delay while the Constitutional Court examined the clemency issue, he said: “Oh, no, no.”
Source: The Australian, April 8, 2015 (local time)