At a press conference held this morning in Canberra, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that Australia will withdraw its ambassador from Indonesia in the wake of the execution of two of our citizens.
Abbott made the unprecedented announcement alongside Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, and spoke of his dismay at the killing of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumarn.
“These executions are both cruel and unnecessary,” The Prime Minister told reporters. “We respect Indonesia’s sovereignty but we do deplore what’s been done and this cannot be simply business as usual.”
“For that reason,” he continued, “once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families our ambassador will be withdrawn for consultations.”
He went on to stress that the relationship between Australia and Indonesia continues to be a very important one, “but it has suffered as a result of what’s been done over the last few hours.”
“I absolutely understand people’s anger,” Abbott said. “I would say to people yes, you are absolutely entitled to be angry but we’ve got to be very careful to ensure that we do not allow our anger to make a bad situation worse.”
Bishop added that the executions of the two men were “senseless” given their rehabilitation.
Overnight, barrister Geoffrey Robertson called for Australia to redirect the aid money it sends to Indonesia to Nepal; at this morning’s press conference, Bishop said that the matter of aid would be dealt with separately.
via The Guardian
Image via 9 News
