At a preliminary hearing in Indonesia’s state administrative court, Justice Hendro Puspito has just now dismissed Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s application to challenge President Joko Widodo’s refusal to grant them clemency from the death penalty.
According to emerging reports, Justice Puspito ruled that the court doesn’t have authority to hear their separate applications to appeal the death sentence on the grounds that “Clemency is the president’s prerogative. It is the president’s right to give pardon therefore clemency is not about technicalities.” Chan and Sukumaran’s lawyers are expected to appeal the decision and have two weeks to do so.
Earlier today, the Sydney Morning Herald reported quoted Bali’s chief prosecutor in saying that Chan and Sukumaran were “very likely” to be moved to Indonesia’s execution island Nusakambangan “at any time” this week and that, once they arrived, the could expect to be executed quickly with only 72 hours notice in order to “avoid unrest among other prisoners.”
The head of corrections at Central Java, Ahmad Yuspahruddin, reiterated that any execution would be undertaken by firing squad soon after their arrival:
“[Their presence] will cause problem to the other prisoners on death row here. We have over 50 of them. It will stress them out, the longer they stay here before the execution. What if they developed a sense of solidarity? What if they bond with the rest of the prisoners? We need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Yes, because a sense of solidarity amongst other people waiting to be lead out to the jungle and shot in the middle of the night is something we need to make sure doesn’t happen. That would be barbaric.
More to come.
Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images
