The harrowing coverage of convicted Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran continues today, as an Indonesian court has rejected the pair’s final judicial review of their impending death sentences for their 2005 crime.
Chan and Sukumaran’s lawyers lodged a follow up bid for a judicial review, after their first bid was rejected. Within the last two months, both Chan and Sukumaran have had their pleas for clemency denied by Indonesian president Joko Widodo.
The rejection overnight of the duo’s latest bid for a judicial review signals what could be Chan and Sukumaran’s last hope to avoid death by firing squad: a spokesperson announced that the pair’s executions would be held in the next two weeks. Chan and Sukumaran are currently being held in Bali’s Kerobokan prison.
Today’s news follows the widespread campaign initiated by Australian artist Ben Quilty, who came into contact with Myuran Sukumaran after he wrote to Quilty about painting. Quilty’s movement “I Stand For Mercy” has been supported widely by Australian celebrities and media personalities, in a bid to stand united against the death penalty.
After visiting both Chan and Sukumaran in Indonesia, Qulity told the ABC of their rehabilitation: “I can promise you that when you sit in front of these two boys they are completely reformed and rehabilitated.”
More on this story as it develops.
Via ABC.
Lead image by Jason Childs/Getty Images.
