Indonesia’s attorney-general, H.M. Prasetyo, said that preparations for the execution of Bali Nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as well as eight other felons, are almost ready.
Prasetyo said the commitment for the ten felons to face a firing squad was “final”.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has rejected international pressure to rethink the Australian pair’s executions.
“The first thing I need to say firmly is that there shouldn’t be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law,” the president said on Tuesday.
One of Chan and Sukumaran’s lawyers, Julian McMahon, pleaded with the president and the attorney-general to reconsider.
“I am begging the president and the attorney-general not to be distracted by arguments about sovereignty and the exercise of power. We fully understand and respect those things,” he said.
“This case really is about humanity and humanity crosses borders, humanity is not constrained by sovereignty.”
Another lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, begged the Indonesian government to postpone the executions until they have explored all legal options to spare the men’s lives, according to Fairfax Media.
“There’s no way the attorney-general can ignore the legal process. He has to respect the legal process because Indonesia is a state-based on law,” Todung said on Wednesday.
He further said that he would most likely wait until the end of the mandated two-week period to lodge the appeal. The court would then take two or three days to examine the submissions.
In an SMS exchange with Prasetyo’s spokesman Tony Spontana, Fairfax Media asked about the Australians’ lawyers plans to appeal the court verdict, to which Spontana said, “I believe it will have no effect”.
Todung is still holding out hope that his clients will not be killed.
“I’m still optimistic we have strong legal grounds,” he said.
The pair were convicted 10 years ago of being the ring-leaders of an operation to smuggle over 8kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. They are expected to be put to death by firing squad sometime in the coming weeks.
IMAGE: Indonesian policemen stand guard next to a banner that reads ‘Withdraw Indonesian ambassador to Australia back to Jakarta’ during a protest against Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott following his statement over the tsunami aid from Australian government outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on February 25, 2015. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has been a vocal supporter of the death penalty for drug traffickers, insisted that Jakarta would push ahead with foreigners on death row. (Photo by ADEK BERRY/AFP/Getty Images)
