Perhaps in a last bid to defy their fate, Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have refused to sign their 72-hour execution notice. Also refusing to sign is Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, whose impending death, according to Sukumaran, would be a travesty of the Indonesian law.

The Australians were given the official notice on Saturday, but instead of signing their acknowledgement, Chan and Sukumaran courteously declined to do so. According to News Corp, both men refused to sign the execution warrant, to the astonishment of the people in the room.

Their Australian lawyer, Julian McMahon, said Sukumaran, who was the first to be called in an office to sign the paper, told them that he was rehabilitated and had spent so many years trying to turn his life around inside the prison cells. He felt his execution was unjust, apologising to the people of Indonesia instead.

Chan also refused when he was called to the room next. His reasons were the same as Sukumaran’s. He said he had rehabilitated himself, and that he wanted a second chance to prove he has indeed changed.

McMahon told News Corp that Sukumaran was calm and composed even after he was told of his impending execution. Chan also spoke with simplicity and directness while giving his reasons of his refusal.

“I have helped other inmates as much as I can and I still do and that’s not me talking, you will hear that from a lot of people, the ones I have helped,” Chan said to the prosecutors. McMahon describe Chan’s reply as “a quiet, slow collision between the dignified, reformed prisoner and the power of the State.”

The prosecutors then created another document to state why the two condemned Aussies refused to sign the first one. Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 34, were asked their last requests, which were written down and signed.

Their lawyer said each of the requests was “simple, mature, not materialistic.” Chan asked for extra time to be in church to pray each day until his execution. Chintu Sukumaran, the brother of the death row convict, revealed that Sukumaran asked to be able to paint as long and as much as possible.

Compassion For The Young Mother

Veloso, the only female in the batch, also refused to sign her paper. Sukumaran, upon learning of the Philippine citizen’s story, showed compassion towards her. He told his visitors that Veloso did not deserve the death penalty. To kill her was “just killing the little person,” he said, adding that her execution would be just pretending to fight crime and drugs.

The 30-year-old single mother of two has maintained her innocence since she was convicted in 2010 for attempting to smuggle 2.6 kg of heroin into Indonesia. She claims she was a victim of drug trafficking, and that she unknowingly became a drug mule.

Her last request was to have her body brought back home in the Philippines after the execution. She also wanted her entire family to be allowed to stay overnight at the prison with her, as well as they would be allowed to be on the island at the time of the execution.

Execution Witnesses

Chan and Sukumaran have requested their friends and spiritual advisers to be present in the final hours of their death. For Sukumaran, he has asked Christie Buckingham, a senior pastor from Bayside Church in Melbourne, to be with him. Buckingham is his long-time friend and supporter.

Chan, on the other hand, wanted Salvation Army minister and family friend David Soper. Both Buckingham and Soper will be witnesses to the pair’s grim end when they are shot by firing squad, presumably on Tuesday.

To contact the writer: a.lu@ibtimes.com.au

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