An Indonesian court Thursday adjourned the legal bid by two Australian drug smugglers to avoid the firing squad, as Jakarta said they will not be executed until appeals filed by several convicts are completed.
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, 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.
Their appeals for presidential clemency, typically a death row convict’s final chance of avoiding the firing squad, were recently rejected by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
They are expected to be executed at the same time as eight other drug convicts, including nationals from France, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana and the Philippines, as well as one Indonesian.The Australians’ legal team, in its latest bid to avoid execution, argued against Widodo’s decision to reject their pleas for clemency, saying he failed to assess their rehabilitation or give reasons for his decision.
Vanguardng
