Bali Nine: Chan and Sukumaran May Have To Wait For Months Before Execution

Australia Bali Nine convicts, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, may not be executed for months. The delay is due to the Indonesian Supreme Court’s decision to review the case of a drug courier from the Philippines.

This may be an opportunity for Chan and Sukumaran to try for their clemency plea for a longer time. Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, the Filipino drug offender, was scheduled to be executed simultaneously with the Australian convicts. Since the Supreme Court has decided to review Veloso’s case, the entire execution may be put on hold.

Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after the Filipina domestic worker had been caught while trying to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin from Malaysia to Yogyakarta. According to Veloso, she was deceived by an acquaintance as she had no idea that the drugs were in her suitcase. Her lawyer said that a review should be carried out since the translator during Veloso’s trial was a student and had no license from the Association of Indonesian Translators.

According to Supreme Court spokesman Suhadi, a panel of judges for the review will be appointed later this week. He said in a local newspaper on Tuesday that it would take month for the panel to examine and study the case. Case reviews typically take around three months.

On the other hand, Attorney-General spokesman Tony Spontana said on Mar. 12 that Indonesian authorities would wait for all legal procedures to be over before they could proceed with the execution. Authorities apparently prefer to carry out simultaneous executions as those are “more efficient and effective.” Spontana said that it would affect a convict’s psychological state if they had to wait for another's execution before their own.

The court, meanwhile, is going to hear the Australian convicts’ plea against the rejection of their clemency appeal on Thursday. In addition, the Judicial Commission has also started investigating the alleged demand of bribery by the judges who had sentenced Chan and Sukumaran to death. The judges allegedly asked for bribe to give a lighter sentence to the drug offenders.

Indonesia has strict laws against drug related offences. It has so far refused to grant clemency for the Australian offenders despite a strong campaign worldwide against the execution.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au