Bali Nine Lawyers to Challenge Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Court Over Clemency Rejection
The lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are going to use their “last chance” to save the Bali Nine ringleaders from death row. Human rights lawyer Todong Mulya Lubis revealed they are set to challenge Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s refusal to give the two Australians clemency.
Mr Widodo cemented the fate of Chan and Sukumaran in January by refusing them clemency, and therefore allowing the attorney-general to decide on the date and venue of their execution, which are yet to be announced. The president’s clemency would have saved the duo from death. Without it, the two unsuccessfully resorted to applying for a judicial review.
In a rare move that is believed to be done only once before, Lubis said the legal team for the Bali Nine drug smugglers will be challenging the country’s highest leader in an administrative court. According to the lawyer, Mr Widodo rejected the bid of Chan and Sukumaran, citing in a TV interview that the country is in a state of emergency due to drugs. The president’s letter to Chan and Sukumaran did not mention his reasons for denying them clemency.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Australian Drug Smugglers on Death Row: ‘No Compromise’
“We don’t think the president can reject all the clemency petition[s] based only on drug emergency situations,” Mulya told ABC. “The president must go into [them] one by one. Now [an] assessment has to be done. You cannot just read that on papers and make a rejection, a refusal.”
Mulya conceded, though, that his clients’ time is running out. It was recently announced that Chan and Sukumaran are included in the next batch of prisoners to be killed before the end of February. Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo is expected to announce the date and venue of the duo’s execution. Mulya is keeping his fingers crossed that they will “change their mind.”
New Hope
Meanwhile, a former lawyer of Chan and Sukumaran has claimed he obtains “never revealed evidence” that could save the Australians from the firing squad. Mohamad Rifan was the legal counsel of both the Australians when they were sentenced to death in 2006. He claimed to reporters outside the Kerobokan prison that there was “interference” in the case that led to the pair receiving death sentence rather than life in prison.
He would not elaborate what the “evidence” was, but alleged it could allow for a new legal appeal that would hopefully save Chan and Sukumaran’s lives. However, by disclosing the evidence, he could lose his career. “But for them, I will take it,” he said.
A Judge’s Regret
Judge Roro Suryowati was one of the three judges at the Denpasar District Court who handed Sukumaran, 33, a death sentence in 2006. She now regrets that decision. Suryowati, who is now a Judge of the High Court in a different region, admitted that her decision is haunting her every time she sees Sukumaran on television.
She told News Corporation that she had hoped to influence the other two judges on the case not to vote for death penalty for the Australian national. However, her peers couldn’t be persuaded, and thus she was over ruled by the majority.
“My feeling has not changed. I feel pity for them. I feel sorry for them,” she said, adding that she often changes the channel on TV whenever news about Chan and Sukumaran surfaces. “It makes me cry.”
