news Death row ruling threatens appeals of Bali drug couriers

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Death row ruling threatens appeals of Bali drug couriers

TOM ALLARD IN JAKARTA
16/03/2009 129 AM

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THE Indonesian Supreme Court has prepared an edict giving prosecutors the right to speed up the execution of death row inmates, including three Australian drug couriers in Kerobokan jail, Bali.

The edict has grave implications for Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran and Scott Rush, not least because it raises the prospect that their final legal appeals will have to be heard in the highly charged climate of the country's presidential election campaign.

Prosecutors have been pressing the Supreme Court to allow them to clear a backlog of death penalty cases, arguing that the current system allowing the condemned to wait as long as they like before lodging appeals is a loophole that is exploited to buy time.

In an interview with the Herald, a Supreme Court judge, Joko Sarwoko, said he had drafted the edict, which would put power exclusively in the hands of prosecutors to determine when final appeals had to be lodged, and the timing of any subsequent execution. "It is up to the prosecutors to decide. Once they decide it, they must send a warning or announcement letter to the person on the death row informing them that their remaining legal avenue has to be exercised."

Judge Sarwoko said he believed the appropriate warning period would be "one month or two months". He emphasised the ruling would be retrospective.

"Yes, it includes the Bali nine people," Judge Sarwoko said.

It has been 2½ years since Rush had his life sentence changed to one of death.

Chan and Sukumaran, both of Sydney, were found to be the ringleaders of the ill-fated drug syndicate. They have repeatedly pleaded not guilty and never expressed any contrition.

Rush, of Brisbane, has, after initial denials, confessed his guilt and pleaded for mercy. He was on his first overseas trip and one of the operation's couriers.

He was caught with a large amount of heroin strapped to his body at Denpasar airport in April 2005.

His lawyer, Colin McDonald, QC, has said previously that he wanted to delay his final appeal until after the presidential poll. If a run-off was needed it would not be held until September.

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The death penalty is widely supported in Indonesia, according to surveys, especially for drug traffickers. Any reduction in the sentences of the Australians would inevitably become a hot political issue.

Human rights groups in Indonesia said the highly publicised executions of drug traffickers like Chan, Sukumaran and Rush during the campaign would help President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ram home his anti-drugs message.

If a final appeal against execution is rejected, the only other avenue for death row inmates is a presidential pardon. But Mr Yudhoyono has rejected pleas for clemency from several foreigners on drug trafficking charges.

About 100 people are on death row in Indonesia. Many have been there longer than the three Australians, and the Attorney-General's office could not be contacted to ascertain its priorities.

However, last year the deputy attorney-general, Abdul Kadir Ritonga - who oversees prosecutions - expressed his strong support for executing drug traffickers, making specific mention of those convicted in the Bali case.

Judge Sarwoko said the new edict would be formalised in the "near future" following a meeting of Supreme Court judges.
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