Thousands To Attend Funeral Services For Executed Bali Nine Convicts Chan & Sukumaran

Public funeral for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are going to take place in Sydney later this week. Thousands of people are expected to attend the ceremony to bid farewell to the Bali Nine convicts executed by Indonesia on April 29.

Chan and Sukumaran were among eight drug offenders whom Indonesian authorities executed earlier in April. They refused to be blindfolded while facing the firing squad on Nusakambangan island. They had spent around 10 years in captivity before Indonesia decided to go on with the death penalty.

Chan's funeral is going to be held at the Hillsong Church in Baulkham Hills at 11 a.m. on Friday. According to a Hillsong spokesman, Salvation Army minister David Soper will conduct the service. Soper was Chan’s spiritual mentor.

The funeral service for Sukumaran will be held at DaySpring Church in Castle Hill at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The event which, according to Sukumaran’s family, will take place "to farewell and celebrate the life of their son and brother Myuran," will be over at 2 p.m.

Artist Ben Quilty, Sukumaran's mentor, is going to join the family and friends to speak at the service. A private cremation will be held for immediate family and friends only after the service.

The bodies arrived in Australia on Saturday, three days after Chan and Sukumaran had been executed. Both families asked members of the public to be present at the ceremonies.

According to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the Bali Nine execution is a "dark moment" in the relationship between Indonesia and Australia. Australia recalled Paul Grigson, the Australian ambassador to Indonesia, as a protest.

The Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin earlier said that Australia might still cooperate with Indonesia in cases similar to Bali Nine. AFP faced harsh criticism after it was found that Australian police did not arrest Chan and Sukumaran in 2005 before they had left for Indonesia. "If there is to be a message out of these executions that we saw last week, I sincerely hope it is that other young lives are saved by people thinking twice before participating in serious crimes overseas," Colvin said.

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