Australian Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (L) are escorted by police
Australian Andrew Chan (R) and Myuran Sukumaran (L) are escorted by police as they arrive for their appeal hearing in Denpasar District Court in Indonesia's resort island of Bali September 21, 2010. They are members of a group known as the Bali Nine, arrested in April 2005 in Bali with 8.3 kg (18 lb) of heroin strapped to their bodies. Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death in 2006. They requested for a judicial review for their death sentence to be reduced to 20 years jail. REUTERS/Murdani Usman

The six judges who sentenced Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to death asked for bribes, according to a dramatic claim. The legal team of the Australian pair made the shocking allegation in a letter sent to the judicial committee of Indonesia.

The letter, as reported by News Corp Australia, claims there had been a breach of ethics when the judges asked for bribes in exchange for a lighter sentence. The judges were allegedly pressured by “certain parties” to hand the drug smugglers the capital punishment, but still offered their lawyers a better deal if the legal team could pay them. However, the lawyers had no money to bargain with the judges.

The revelation came days after Chan and Sukumaran’s former lawyer Muhammad Rifan visited the Kerobokan prison and told the waiting reporters outside that he has evidence that could help the pair escape the death sentence but would discredit him. He said he was willing to take to risk to his career for the pair.

Former Bali Nine Lawyer Claims Evidence That Could Save Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran From Death Sentence

“Muhammad Rifan said that the judges were pressured from certain parties to give the death sentence, and the judges had also conveyed to Muhammad Rifan that they were willing to give a lighter sentence than death sentence to his client if they were given some money,” the letter from Chan and Sukumaran’s lawyers reads.

Rifan, who is in Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage to Mecca, told the paper that it was their “habit” to give the judges something in return for a lighter sentence. His team had asked for at least 20 years prison term, although the negotiation did not reach the point of them asking how much the judges wanted.

“The problem, at that time, there is no fund that we can give to them. That’s the problem. There is no money that we can give to them,” he confessed.

The letter was sent to the Judicial Commission on Friday, naming the six judges involved in the two cases, each of the cases had three judges presiding over it. The lawyers also wrote to Attorney-General HM Prasetyo to request for a stay of Sukumaran’s execution, citing an outstanding legal challenge in the administrative court.

One of the named judges, Roro Suryowati, previously told News Corp of her regret over the decision. She claimed that she did not want to give Sukumaran the death penalty, but her two co-judges overruled her on the case.

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