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Australians on Indonesia death row file rare legal challenge

Lawyers fighting to save two Australian drug smugglers from the firing squad in Indonesia on Wednesday lodged a rare legal challenge to the president’s decision to reject the men’s appeals for clemency.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug smuggling gang, were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year after being caught trying to traffick heroin out of Indonesia. The pair recently lost their final appeals to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for clemency despite arguing that they had rehabilitated themselves in prison.

Indonesian authorities are pushing ahead with the planned executions, which are expected to be carried out this month. But their lawyers registered one final legal bid in a Jakarta administrative court, taking the unusual step of challenging Widodo’s decision to refuse the men a pardon. 

Authorities have repeatedly said the appeal for presidential clemency is a death row convict’s final chance to avoid the firing squad, but the men’s lawyers believe the latest move delay the executions.

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