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| Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran |
Lawyers for Bali 9 drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have pleaded for the Australian Government to step up the fight to save them from the firing squad.
The pair are just a pen stroke from execution after 7 years on death row and Indonesia recently resumed executions, with a target of 10 judicial killings this year.
As Chan and Sukumaran told The Sunday Times of chilling nightmares of being shot dead by a firing squad, their legal team demanded their lives be made a priority in Australia.
The men's situation has become even more grave in recent weeks after reports Indonesia's national narcotics board and a top judge have recommended President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reject Chan's plea for clemency his last chance of survival.
"The moment of truth is on the horizon," one of their Australian lawyers, Peter Morrissey SC, said last night.
"The Australian Government should make these boys' lives a genuine priority, whatever distractions exist."
Foreign Minister Bob Carr's office revealed that in January this year Senator Carr wrote to his Indonesian counterpart, outlining Australia's strong opposition to the death penalty.
The letter is understood to have said that the Government vigorously supported clemency for the two Australians.
Inside Kerobokan jail, Chan, 28, said he desperately hoped the Australian public who gave them little sympathy when first sentenced for leading a 2005 bid to traffic 8.2kg of heroin from Bali to Australia would now support their fight for life.
He admitted they were initially surly and unrepentant after their arrest, but he believed their actions since proved their lives were worth saving.
"I cry out for the public to help me," he said. "With a sincere heart I do ask for their help. Sincerely I am sorry for the crime that I did commit and I apologise to the Australian public for that." He said he had personally apologised to Bali 9 members also.
Both he and Sukumaran have told of their fear of the firing squad. "You basically get taken out of your cell, they take you to a remote area, they line you up and shoot at your heart, they say. If that doesn't complete the job the guy in charge comes up with a handgun at point blank," Chan said.
For Sukumaran the image is equally vivid. "Being lined up, having a thing tied over your face and seeing these people in front of you with guns," he said. "That is the image that comes to my mind."
In what their lawyers say demonstrates their transformation, Sukumaran and Chan personally turned part of their prison into a quasi-TAFE where prisoners learn computing, English, philosophy, graphic design and art and make jewellery and screen-print T-shirts, in awarding-winning rehabilitation programs.
Sukumaran, 32, said the execution would end their lives just when they were achieving good for others.
"We are sorry for what we did," he said.
"We were young and stupid. I would ask, please forgive us and give us a 2nd chance, a chance to make up for what we have done.
"I want to become a better person and I want to help everybody else become a better person as well. Clemency is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.
"We are doing something good, running the rehabilitation programs. If they execute us we won't be doing those things."
The pair were sentenced to death by a Bali court in 2006 and have lost all legal appeals against the death penalty.
There is no time frame for the President to give a decision on clemency and the recent political developments in Jakarta have alarmed the pair's supporters.Mr Morrissey said they need support from ordinary people "who believe the boys deserve jail, but not execution".
"It reminds the Indonesian government that this really matters," he said. "These boys have done everything Indonesia could ask, and more again.
"When captured, both were immature young offenders, who put forward silly excuses and did not face their guilt. They began to reform by engaging in the Indonesian prison system and its calm, rehabilitation-focused approach.
"They have not just improved their own lives, but reached out through education to help others. Even the Governor came to court to assist them because he recognised their astounding change.
"No one should be executed; but it would be cold and callous to kill 2 boys who have reformed totally, who are happy to serve a proper jail term and who can offer much to the world."
Source: Perth Now, May 4, 2013
Bali Nine issue a big test for Prime Minister Julia Gillard
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| Scott Rush |
ONE of the saddest moments of my political career was in December 2005 when a young Australian drug trafficker Van Tuong Nguyen was executed at the Changi Jail in Singapore.
John Howard and I had begged the Singaporean government ffrom the prime minister down for clemency. Every legal manoeuvre had been tried. But the Singapore government decided to stick with their established policy and hanged the 25-year-old.
I rang the Australian High Commission staff who had counselled Van Nguyen for three long years since his arrest. They said he died bravely. His mother had wept in their arms. It was a hugely emotional conversation.
This execution happened eight months after the arrest of the group of nine Australians in Bali for trafficking 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia.
Of course the Bali Nine were foolish and greedy - the heroin was said to be worth $4 million. They knew that the penalty for drug trafficking in Indonesia was death. That's true in most of South East Asia.
When I was told of the arrest of the Bali Nine I knew it would be a struggle to save their lives. President Yudhoyono is a good man in so many ways but he does believe the death penalty is an effective deterrent for drug trafficking and use.
It's one thing to read about this, to theorise, to argue about the morality of the death penalty and to contemplate its effectiveness. And to say that the Bali Nine went into this with their eyes open; they took the risks knowingly.
I can tell you, it's another thing to sit down with the families of these young people on death row. I had several teary meetings with the family of Scott Rush.
Eventually, his death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.
Several of the other members of the Bali Nine were also sentenced to either life imprisonment or twenty years behind bars.
But two of the Bali Nine, Andrew Chan and Myuan Sukuaran, are still on death row. They have exhausted the judicial system. Their only hope of avoiding a firing squad is if the President grants clemency.
For Foreign Minister Bob Carr and the Prime Minister as well, this is a huge challenge. They share with the Indonesian Government a determination to stamp out heroin trafficking knowing the damage heroin does to users.
They value the relationship with Indonesia, which has been handled pretty clumsily in recent times, particularly over boat people and the live cattle trade. And they oppose the death penalty.
The challenge for the Australian Government is to get the President to grant clemency. They need to be working on it right now.
Here are a couple of don'ts and a couple of dos. For a start, this is not a negotiation which should descend to Twitter and other media stunts, particularly by the Foreign Minister. I know Bob Carr loves Tweeting his activities. On this issue he should uncharacteristically work quietly and determinedly behind the scenes.
The surest way of failing to get clemency is to run a public campaign. That would stir up nationalist sentiment in Indonesia a country which was once colonised by the Europeans. They don't like being told what to do by foreigners.
Remember the case in China of Stern Hu, the Rio executive? Kevin Rudd's media commentary on the case did more harm than good for him. And Schapelle Corby's support group's public campaign was a disaster.
The government should also avoiding issuing public threats either explicit or implicit. Threatening the Indonesians publicly will only get their backs up. They will make it clear that Indonesia won't be threatened by anyone.
So publicly suggesting we'll downgrade the relationship if the President fails to grant clemency won't work.
What the Australian Government should do is quietly talk to the Indonesian President and Foreign Minister about two things.
The first is quite practical. The Bali Nine had been known to the Australian Federal Police. They worked with the Indonesian government trying to track these people.
The AFP were not directly involved with the arrest of the Bali Nine but more broadly, AFP co-operation with the Indonesian authorities is important to Indonesia's anti-drug campaign.
If Sukumanan and Chan are executed, that will have a huge impact on the capacity of the AFP to work with the Indonesians. The government won't want the AFP getting close to their Indonesian counterparts on drug issues anymore.
Secondly, the execution of Sukumanan and Chan would cause outrage amongst many but not all Australians. This would certainly re-enforce for many the negative perceptions they have of Indonesia. In turn, that would make it more difficult for any Australian government to work closely with Indonesia. There needs to be a degree of trust and goodwill between our countries. Executing our people won't help that.
This issue is a big test for Bob Carr and even Julia Gillard. Let's hope they succeed.
Alexander Downer was Australia's foreign minister from 1996 to 2007
Source: Perth Now, May 5, 2013
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