Myuran Sukumaran is
one step closer to the firing squad after appearing to have lost his bid for
clemency from the Indonesian president.
The news prompted an emotional
outpouring from the Australian Bali Nine member saying of himself and fellow
Australian Andrew Chan, "We've changed. We don't deserve to be executed.
Our families shouldn't have to suffer like this."
A letter rejecting the clemency
bid was hand-delivered to Bali's Kerobokan prison by an Indonesian government
official on Wednesday and the Australian consulate was notified at about 4pm
local time (7pm AEDT).
The letter, dated December 30,
2014, was printed on the letterhead of "Presiden Republik Indonesia"
and has Joko Widodo's name printed underneath.
The text says there is "not
enough reason" for the clemency bid to be granted, and makes clear that,
"The decision is in effect on the day it is decided".
Chan has not received a letter.
Sukumaran told Fairfax Media
through an intermediary that he was shocked.
"My mum's on the floor,
tears, crying and can't talk. My sister is in tears and can't talk. My
brother's so shocked he didn't even know what to say. I've been walking around
feeling like someone's punched me in the stomach.
"Is there no such thing as
rehabilitation??? Can't someone change????
"All the big drug dealers
are free and clear to do what they want cause they pay people off big time!
That is the only thing me and Andrew can't do, is to pay big money. We were
attempting to take drugs out of Indonesia not importing [them]. We failed. We
f----d up. We were wrong, we know that. We're paying for that. Our families are
paying for our mistake."
Sukumaran and Chan based clemency
bids lodged over two years ago based on the strong efforts they have made at
rehabilitation since they were locked in Kerobokan prison in 2005.
Sukumaran learns and teaches art
to fellow inmates, runs a computer lab and a t-shirt printing room, offering
the products for sale outside, with revenue flowing back to the prison. Chan
has become deeply involved in the affairs of the prison church.
Each has apologised for being
involved in a conspiracy to import 8.2kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in
2005. They were sentenced to death by firing squad in 2006.
"We've changed,"
Sukumaran wrote. "We've done so much in the last six to seven years
… We rehabilitated ourselves with the help of the guards here … we were
doing good things.
"What use will executing us
be? … We don't deserve to be executed. Our families shouldn't have to suffer
like this."
Melbourne-based barrister Julian
McMahon, part of Chan's and Sukumaran's legal team, said he had heard the news
from the media.
"It's appalling that matters
of life and death are made known only through the media. It suggests politics
is intruding into the rule of law, precisely what should not happen in death
penalty cases".
It's unclear how the apparent
clemency rejection will fit with the team of lawyers' plans to lodge an
application for judicial review of the two cases. This is an appeal that can be
lodged when there is new evidence, but lawyers are not sure if it can be done
after clemency is rejected.
In 2013 the Indonesian
Constitutional Court ruled that anyone had the right to submit a review at any
time. But three wings of the Indonesian judicial system are now in the midst of
a public spat over this question, as the government pushes to put large numbers
of convicts in front of the firing squad.
On New Year's Eve, the Supreme
Court issued a letter instructing the lower courts to limit claimants to only
one application. The country's Attorney-General — a pro-death penalty hardliner
H.M. Prasetyo — welcomed the Supreme Court letter, saying it was "a good
move to provide legal certainty so we can carry out an execution".
Mr McMahon said on Wednesday
night that, "The endless public positioning and even open conflict
by key institutions in the last few weeks are exactly why such cases should not
end in firing squads.
"Myuran has become a world
news story in recent years because he has reformed himself and prisoners within
the prison – his reward is to have all that work ignored. Yet the
Constitutional Court said in 2007 that rehabilitated prisoners can be
re-sentenced."
Indonesian president Joko Widodo
has recently made it clear he wants all 64 drug smugglers on death row executed
to battle the "scourge" of drugs in the country.
Mr Joko was determined to execute
six convicts before the new year, and 20 more in the medium term. The new-year
executions were delayed when some prisoners lodged judicial reviews.
Sukumaran's and Chan's names are not on the list of six, but it's unclear if
they are among the 20.
The legal system in Indonesia is
so thoroughly corrupted that observers have no confidence that the people on
death row have had a fair trial, or are guilty of their offences.
"I was astonished to hear
that all 64 drug offenders on death row were to be treated the same, as if it's
a rubber stamp process," Mr McMahon said.
"We will take whatever steps
the law allows us, and we will fight for justice in this case."
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