Australia appeals to spare Indonesia Bali death row duo

AUSTRALIA has again appealed to Indonesia to spare two Australians on death row for drug crimes.

In a motion tabled in the Australian parliament, the government said it would continue to seek clemency for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The pair, leaders of the “Bali Nine” drug smuggling ring, are next in line to be executed for drug crimes.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop gave an impassioned speech calling for clemency for the two men.

She said Indonesia should grant these men the same clemency it seeks for its own nationals facing the death penalty abroad.

“I believe it is Indonesia who will lose the most for executing these men,” Ms Bishop told Parliament on Thursday.

She said the Australian government acknowledged the seriousness of drug crimes but said Chan and Sukumaran had gone to great lengths to rehabilitate and reform.

“Both men are paying their debt to society, improving and enriching the lives of fellow prisoners,” she said, in a reference to the work the pair have done with other prisoners in Kerobokan prison in Bali.

She said the duo needed to pay for their crimes but “they should not need to pay with their lives”.

Indonesian Attorney General HM Prasetyo said earlier this month that Chan and Sukumaran would be included in the next group of prisoners to be put to death.

Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. It ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013.

Last month, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands as well as an inmate from Indonesia. It prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors in protest.

Australian authorities have threatened to do the same if Chan and Sukumaran are put to death.

Australia opposes the death penalty and has repeatedly campaigned on behalf of the men. They were in a group of nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005 with more than 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin.

Five successive Australian prime ministers have made representations to Indonesia on behalf of the two men.

Ms Bishop said that since 7 January, 11 written representations had been made by the Australian government. Joint letters have also been sent by the government, the Labor opposition and the Greens Party.

Government ministers, members of parliament and businessmen have all made individual representations to Indonesia, she said.

She noted that Indonesian prisoners in Australia for drug crimes did not face death row, and that the Indonesian government went to great lengths to seek clemency for its own nationals facing the death penalty abroad.

The Jakarta Post reported on Tuesday that Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi had said Indonesia was committed to helping release 229 Indonesian nationals currently on death row in other countries.

According to Ms Bishop, many of them are on drugs charges.

“We are only doing what Indonesia does for its people who face death row in other countries,” she told parliament.