The Bali Nine duo’s execution is likely to go ahead this week.
UPDATE:
Audience and panelists of ABC’s Q&A were thrown last night after it was announced Bali Nine death row inmates, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, would be granted an appeal — potentially delaying their execution until May 12.
Less than a few minutes into the program, host Tony Jones interrupted an audience member to announce the breaking news.
“We’re just getting reports, and it’s coming up on the autocue here,” he said.
“Indonesia’s constitutional court has agreed to consider a last ditch legal challenge brought by the Bali Nine pair. The court agrees to hear the case on May 12.”
The audience member then asked if that meant the executions would not go ahead on Tuesday night, as planned.
NSW Liberal Senator, Arthur Sinodinos, responded: “Well I would assume so, given the news we’ve just been told.”
However, shadow Foreign Minister Tanya Plibersek reminded the panel to proceed with caution when discussing the fate of Chan and Sukumaran.
“I’m sorry Tony, just having read that on the autocue I think we have to be very careful. We don’t know the full range of information. We might hear updates through the course of the show or afterwards,” she cautioned.
“We just have to be very careful because the information, as you’ve said, is coming out in small pieces.”
While Ms Plibersek reinforced Australia’s belief in the need to carry out all legal processes, she was wary of confirming or denying whether the executions would be delayed.
Yet this morning, sadly, reports indicate the executions will be carried out as planned — to occur around midnight on Tuesday.
It appears the “breaking news” was little but false hope for everyone concerned.
Mamamia previously reported…
The Indonesian Constitutional Court of Appeal has granted a final appeal hearing to Bali Nine pair Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan on May 12, reports say.
Attorney-General HM Prasetyo has previously said the appeal would have no bearing on the executions. Last night there was still confusion over whether this could bring a stay of the executions believed to be scheduled for the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“For the Bali Nine (pair), we have the Constitutional Court appeal, we have the registration number and we have the schedule fixed on May 12,” the duo’s lawyer, Leonard Arpan, said.
“We keep hoping that this ongoing legal process will be respected.”
Related: Andrew Chan marries fiancé the day before his planned execution.
Former lawyer for the pair, Muhammed Rifan, on Monday, claimed Indonesian judges asked for more than $130,000 in exchange for a sentence of less than 20 years in prison.
Chan married his fiancé today as the duo on death row prepared to be killed.
An Amnesty International campaign paying tribute to the Bali duo:
Read more:
Myuran Sukumaran has painted a moving tribute to the Indonesian President.
This is what the world could lose in 72 hours.
‘A heroin overdose killed by brother. But I stand for Mercy.’
Australian celebrities plead: “Save our boys, Mr Abbott.”
The self-portrait that says more than a thousand words about how it feels to face death.
Top Comments
The court agrees to hear the case on May 12.”
Asking if the executions would still go ahead seemed like a stupid question
but last week there was a statement that even if a date was set for a court case,
the executions would proceed as planned.
This does seem crazy to us.
Therefore, the questioner is no idiot; she raised an issue of critical significance.
They're getting what they deserve. 0 tolerance on dangerous drugs, Australia should take the same approach.
You sound like an awful person. The men did the wrong thing, but they do NOT deserve to be murdered for it, 10 years later.
Yeah, cos that's stopping people consuming and trafficking in drugs isn't it.
Agreed. They should have been executed 10 years ago.