photo: View of the prison entrance and "welcome" sign
It's not an easy journey from Kerobokan prison to Nusa Kambangan. There's a flight to Jogjakarta, a bumpy five-hour road trip through the villages and rice paddies of Central Java, and finally a steamy ferry ride to the island itself.
For Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, it will be the most difficult journey they've ever had to make. It will also be their last.
Ten years after they entered Kerobokan prison - named as ringleaders of the infamous “Bali 9”, a plot to smuggle 8.3kg or $4 million worth of heroin out of Indonesia - the pair will soon finally leave.
These men will make that journey to Nusa Kambangan - Indonesia's Alcatraz - in the dead of night. A few days later they'll be killed by firing squad. Indonesia's President has rejected their pleas for clemency, and despite a last ditch legal bid by the pairs’ lawyers, the Government says the pair have exhausted their appeals and will be among the next round of prisoners to be executed. That means that any day now, they could be given three days notice of their execution date.
My cameraman and I travelled to Nusa Kambangan - the island the Government has said will be the most likely location for their execution, this week.
One side of the island is a tourist paradise. Laughing locals sipping coconuts, young boys playing on white sand beaches. Our western faces were such a novelty we were asked to pose for many photos.
Then our small fishing boat travelled to the other side - only to the edge of the “restricted area” where our driver would go no further. Security cameras peeped out from dense walls of trees. A boat carrying prison staff was docked at the port. A sign bearing the faces of Indonesia’s Justice Minister and narcotics boss with raised fists let us know that this was where Indonesia's worst criminals are housed - in seven prisons dotted around the island.
Father Charlie Burrows, an Irish priest who lives in the closest mainland port city of Cilacap has counselled many prisoners and their families as the time of execution draws closer. He told us that just waiting for the death sentence to be carried out is torture in itself. “The president has said they're all going to be executed. That means none of them have hope anymore. And you can't live without hope.”
His description of the execution process is even more terrifying.
“When I was there, they were taken up to a mountain and they're tied these - it was actually a cross, yeah. And they have rubber tubing round around them so they can't move and they have white cloth on them and the doctor comes forward and puts a little black badge where the heart is and then the shooters shoot for the heart,” he said,
Charlie Burrows has witnessed two of these executions and says it took seven or eight minutes for the prisoners to die. In that time, while they were moaning in pain, he sang ’Amazing Grace’ to give them something to focus on. Charlie is a strong campaigner against the death penalty. He believes the prisoners should be rehabilitated instead.
By all accounts, Chan and Sukumaran have been. Ten years ago they were young men who did a terrible thing and were caught. But they believe they are now good men. Chan is studying to be a pastor and counsels fellow inmates, helping them steer clear of drugs. Sukumaran is a talented artist and runs classes for other prisoners. They're not asking to be freed, just for their lives to be spared so they can continue to work for the rest of their lives inside Kerobokan prison.
As I sat in that fishing boat looking at the entrance to that island prison - one of the last things those men will ever see, I tried to imagine what they would be thinking when they arrive here. But it's impossible. How can someone even process what they are about to face?
I've seen their families coming and going from the prison, grief and despair etched on their faces. They're spending as much time as possible with their loved ones, knowing it could be over very soon.
Charlie Burrows tells me there's an Indonesian saying that translates to “if you know a person, you'll automatically like him”.
Chan and Sukumaran broke the law. They did it in a country where the punishment is death. They knew that and took their chances anyway. But ten years later they are different people who have realised their mistakes and have been atoning for their crimes. Do they really deserve to die? Jayne Azzopardi, Reporter
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