Bali Nine Ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s Judicial Review Rejected, Could Be Executed Within 2 Weeks

Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s bid for a judicial review was rejected. The denial of the review of their case called PK, which would have been their last hope to save them from the firing squad in Indonesia, would mean that the Australians could be executed in within the next two weeks.

Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran attempted to apply for a PK to save their clients from the death row. However, Denpasar court spokesman Hasoloan Sianturi told the media on Wednesday that their applications were denied and would not be submitted to the Supreme Court for assessment.

Sianturi explained that because there’s no new evidence in the case, their application did not formally fulfil the conditions for a judicial review. He also said that the judicial review could only be submitted once.

There is no date and venue set for the execution of Chan and Sukumaran yet, but Attorney-General HM Prasetyo confirmed to reporters that the Australian drug smugglers will be among the next batch of prisoners executed. Some embassies have also been informed that their citizens would be facing the firing squad next, but Prasetyo claimed he couldn’t recall which ones. The Australian embassy in Jakarta, meanwhile, refuses to comment on the matter.

“We will find the right time,” Prasetyo said of the schedule of the execution, adding that it could be within the month. “Maybe within two weeks.”

According to several reports, Chan and Sukumaran might be executed in Nusakambangan, a prison island off central Java.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott previously vowed to continue all efforts to save the men from the capital punishment. On Wednesday, following the Indonesian court’s rejection of Chan and Sukumaran’s PK application, Mr Abbott said that the Australian government is doing everything it can for the convicts.

“We’re not going to engage in last-minute megaphone diplomacy, but I just want to assure people that the Australian government has left no stone unturned to try to ensure that these two Australians on death row have their sentences commuted. We’ve left no stone unturned,” he said.

Chan and Sukumaran were determined to be the leaders of the group of nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005. The group, named the Bali Nine by the media, attempted to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin from the Asian country to Australia. The duo were the only two given the death penalty, while the rest received long prison sentences.