Indonesian court rejects death row Australians’ appeal
7 April 2015 1:07 AM GMT
An Indonesian court on Monday dismissed an appeal by two Australian drug smugglers facing imminent execution, and the country’s legal chief said the pair have now exhausted all options to avoid the firing squad.
Following the ruling lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran vowed to take the case to the Constitutional Court - but Indonesia’s attorney-general accused the legal team of “playing with justice” and said the move would not delay the executions.
The State Administrative Court in Jakarta upheld a decision that it does not have the authority to hear a challenge to President Joko Widodo’s rejection of the Australians’ pleas for clemency.
Chan and Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug trafficking gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.
Widodo recently rejected their mercy pleas, typically the final chance to avoid execution. They are expected to be executed soon along with other drug convicts, including foreigners from France, Brazil, the Philippines, Nigeria and Ghana.
Jakarta has said it will wait for all legal appeals to be resolved before putting the group to death at the same time.
Some other convicts have lodged Supreme Court appeals, which could take weeks to resolve.
The Australians’ legal team has mounted several attempts to halt the executions. In the latest, they called for the State Administrative Court to hear an appeal against Widodo’s clemency rejection, saying that he failed to properly assess their rehabilitation or give reasons for his decision.
The court refused to accept the application in February, and the Australians’ lawyers appealed that decision.
Following the ruling lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran vowed to take the case to the Constitutional Court - but Indonesia’s attorney-general accused the legal team of “playing with justice” and said the move would not delay the executions.
The State Administrative Court in Jakarta upheld a decision that it does not have the authority to hear a challenge to President Joko Widodo’s rejection of the Australians’ pleas for clemency.
Chan and Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug trafficking gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.
Widodo recently rejected their mercy pleas, typically the final chance to avoid execution. They are expected to be executed soon along with other drug convicts, including foreigners from France, Brazil, the Philippines, Nigeria and Ghana.
Jakarta has said it will wait for all legal appeals to be resolved before putting the group to death at the same time.
Some other convicts have lodged Supreme Court appeals, which could take weeks to resolve.
The Australians’ legal team has mounted several attempts to halt the executions. In the latest, they called for the State Administrative Court to hear an appeal against Widodo’s clemency rejection, saying that he failed to properly assess their rehabilitation or give reasons for his decision.
The court refused to accept the application in February, and the Australians’ lawyers appealed that decision.
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