Why Indonesia won’t spare Bali Nine duo

Cindy Wockner speaks exclusively to the mother and family of death row inmate Myuran Sukumaran about the rejection of his clemency plea by the Indonesian President. Produced by Josh Wall

AUSTRALIA has never convinced a regional government to abandon plans to execute a drug runner and faces a bleak battle trying to persuade Joko Widodo to spare the lives of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

The new Indonesian President has reactivated executions as a way to stamp his authority and would struggle to find any reason to spare the two Australians, especially after it executed five foreigners at the weekend.

The Prime Minister has sent two letters to President Widodo appealing for clemency, which Mr Abbott's office yesterday declined to make public.

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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop — who met the families of both death-row prisoners at the weekend and has vowed to "exhaust all avenues" -- wrote to her counterpart in December appealing for mercy, which did not receive a positive response.

Professor Tim Lindsey, from Melbourne University's Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, says both will have their work cut out trying to persuade President Widodo to make exceptions of Chan and Sukumaran.

He said President Widodo was exercised by issues involving corruption, democracy and making life easier for small businesses, but human rights was not a strong point.

"We speak to people in Indonesia who say he's not particularly focused on human rights issues," Professor Lindsey said.

On death row ... Myuran Sukumaran in Kerobokan jail. Source: News Limited

Waiting news ... Andrew Chan inside Kerobokan Jail. Source: News Limited

"He's interested in transparency and openness. It reflects his background as a provincial, medium-sized business entrepreneur. Human rights is not at the forefront of his thinking.

"And we must understand that death sentence for drugs has wide support in Indonesia, because rightly or wrongly, they consider it akin to mass murder."

Further damaging the hopes of the two Australians who were sentenced to death in 2006 is that President Widodo, who arrived in power last year with wide public support, has few friends in Congress or Jakarta's political elite.

"This is not a strong first term president," says Professor Lindsey. "He's putting it together, trying to build his coalition and make it solid."

Making pleas ... Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she has vowed to do what she can. Source: News Corp Australia

Executing drug runners is seen as an uncontroversial mainstream decision in Indonesia, and President Widodo would not want to risk upsetting the partners he needs in Congress to pass legislation.

Ms Bishop said on Sky News yesterday that Chan and Sukumaran had been discussed in more than 50 one-on-one meetings between Australian and Indonesian leaders over the past decade, but to no avail.

Ms Bishop, who said executing the two would not solve the drug problem, said Indonesia argued it was "facing a crisis in terms of drug trafficking and it believes that the death penalty should apply".

Convicted ... Bail Nine drug traffickers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan who have been helping prisoners with computer courses at Kerobokan prison. Source: News Limited

Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors after two of their citizens were executed on Sunday, but Ms Bishop said it was important Australian diplomats remained in the country to make representations.

Further impeding diplomat overtures, one feature of last year's presidential race between Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto was their attempts to out-campaign each other on who would take the toughest stand on foreign interference.

Australia does not have the strong relationship it had with President Widodo's predecessor, Susilo Bambamg Yudhoyono — even if the relationship was strained at the end over revelations that Australia had tapped SBY's phone.

Sukumaran's bid for clemency has been rejected by President Widodo. The governor of Kerobokan prison in Bali, Sudjonggo, said yesterday that he was yet to receive any letter relating to Chan's clemency appeal.

A friend ... Australian artist Ben Quilty at Kerobokan Jail to visit Myuran Sukumaran. Picture: Lukman S Bintoro Source: News Corp Australia

Australian Consul-General in Bali ... Majell Hind before she visits Myuran Sukumaran. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said it was too early to lose hope.

"[The death penalty] demeans all of as human beings," he said. "We haven't given up and I'm sure the government hasn't given up the prospect of achieving clemency for these two Australians.

"Labor is at one with the government to try and save the lives of these Australians."

Matius Arif, an evangelist from Abalove Church, met both men in Kerobokan Prison yesterday. Mr Arif said they did not discuss their dire situation, but they had prayed for the six executed at the weekend.

"We had a joint prayer. We pray for them. May God bless them," said Mr Arif, who said both the condemned men had worked hard helping other prisoners with bible, art, cooking and drug rehabilitation classes.

Creative painter ... Myuran Sukumaran showing what he has been doing during his rehabilitation program, which he started inside the jail. Source: News Limited

"They (are) still doing a great job at the prison to help people rehabilitate themselves," he said, appealing to President Widodo that "this is a matter of life".

"They realise that they had (done) wrong. But those who have repented, they should also get something new. And let them live is much more beneficial rather than killing them."

While there were some signs of a nascent movement against the death penalty, it is still only an undercurrent.

Indonesia has campaigned to get brutalised maids off death row in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, but Professor Lindsey said Indonesians drew a sharp distinction between maids abused by their bosses and drug offenders.

Bali Nine mastermind ... Andrew Chan in a line-up among the other inmates. Source: News Corp Australia

"They've got a very difficult job," he said of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister's clemency campaign.

President Widodo said in a Facebook post on Sunday: "A healthy Indonesia is an Indonesia without drugs."

Mercycampaign.org is asking people to sign its online petition, saying the two "deserve to be in jail, but not to be killed. We also humbly ask for mercy for other prisoners on death row, especially those who have reformed their lives."

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