Categories: News

Bali 9 transfer from prison to be executed approved

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry has granted permission to transfer Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran out of Kerobokan prison, in preparation for their execution.

Chan and Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the Bali Nine group of drug smugglers, are likely to be flown to Yogyakarta and then driven for approximately five hours to a high-security prison in Cilacap in Central Java province near Nusakambangan Island, according to the ABC.

The two men were denied presidential pardons and are due to face a firing squad this month.

The families of the two men will be given the opportunity to visit for the last time before the transfer takes place, confirmed head of the Bali prosecutor’s office, Momock Bambang Samirso.

Australian Ken Chan, the father of death-row prisoner Andrew Chan, leaves after visiting Andrew at Kerobokan Prison on February 10, 2015 in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Photo by Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Momock said the execution would be done as soon as possible and Indonesian attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo will make an official announcement three days before they go ahead with the executions.

Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, said he rejected 64 bids for mercy and was not forgiving any drug criminal.

Indonesia executed six people, including five foreigners, for drug offences last month.

Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop moved a motion in Parliament on Thursday calling for a stay of execution for the two men. Opposition counterpart Tanya Plibersek, who gave an impassioned speech recounting how her own partner was convicted and served prison time for drugs offences and has since been rehabilitated, seconded the motion.

TOP IMAGE: Michael Chan (L) and Helen Chan (R) mother and brother of Andrew Chan hold a press conference on February 9, 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The families of condemned Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran lodged a last ditch appeal to save their loved ones. The ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine face execution this month for the 2005 heroin smuggling operation. (Photo by Oscar Siagian/Getty Images)

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