http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-28/b ... ns/6428222
Australia has already threatened Indonesia if they go through and execute the pair. Yeah that would really show the Indonesians hur hur hur.Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran 'dignified' ahead of executions
By Indonesian correspondent George Roberts and staff
Updated 5 minutes ago
The families of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have made an eleventh hour plea for the lives of the two men ahead of their executions tonight, after "tough and dark" hours saying their final goodbyes.
Michael Chan said both his brother and Sukumaran are "dignified" ahead of the executions, which he said amount to "cruel, undignified torture".
"I saw today something that no other family should ever have to go through," he said.
"Nine families inside a prison saying goodbye to their loved ones.
"To walk out of there and say goodbye for the last time, it is torture."
Raji Sukumaran pleaded with president Joko Widodo for clemency for her son and Chan.
"I won't see my son again and they are going to take him tonight and shoot him and he is healthy and he is beautiful and he has a lot of compassion for other people," she said.
"I am asking the government not to kill him, please president, please don't kill him today.
"Call off the execution."
Joining calls for clemency, Sukumaran's brother, Chintu, said the execution of the nine prisoners on Nusakambangan prison island would do little to address the drug problem in Indonesia.
"We spent the last few hours with my brother ... we did talk about the death penalty and he knows this is just a waste," he said.
"He knows this is not going to solve anything with drugs.
"I ask the president to please show mercy.
"Please don't let my mum and my sister have to bury my brother."
Chan and Sukumaran vow to take care of other prisoners
Despite the fate awaiting the pair, Chintu said his brother and Chan were taking care of the other prisoners due to be executed tonight.
"Myu has told us that he is going to be strong and him and Andrew will take care of the other seven people and he is worried for Mary Jane [Veloso, another prisoner due to be executed tonight] and her family as well," he said.
"We still have hope right up until the last second that the president will see each of these people are individuals, as people with families that love them and show mercy."
In tears and holding on to her brother for support, Brintha Sukumaran pleaded with Mr Widodo for clemency.
"Please don't do this to my brother," she cried.
"I beg you please, please don't take my brother from me."
Family members returned from today's visits with more paintings done by Sukumaran.
One of them depicted a heart with an inscription on the back that read: "Satu hati, satu rasa di dalam cinta." (One heart, one feeling in love.)
It had been signed by all nine prisoners on death row.
Pair denied spiritual support in final moments
The pair were this afternoon denied their right to spiritual support in the final moments before their executions.
Indonesian law stipulates that where the death penalty is applied, condemned prisoners are allowed a religious counsellor in the final moments before they are shot by firing squad.
It is their only support in the last moments of life and the religious cleric of their choosing can also witness the death penalty being carried out.
But the ABC has been told that that has been denied to Chan and Sukumaran.
The two pastors nominated by the drug smugglers to be their final support were denied access to their island prison today.
The Indonesian attorney-general is expected to hold a press conference after the executions.
A group of family and friends who embarked at Cilacap for the first trip to the Nusakambangan today were mobbed by media, with Sukumaran's sister needing to be carried through as photographers pressed in.
An ambulance carrying nine coffins arrived at the ferry terminal shortly afterwards for the short trip to the island.
Brandis appeals for stay until court case is heard
Attorney-General George Brandis has appealed to his Indonesian counterpart to stay the executions until proceedings underway in the country's Constitutional Court and Judicial Commission have been completed.
A preliminary hearing of the Constitutional Court has been scheduled for May 12, which Senator Brandis said is relevant to the cases of Chan and Sukumaran.
"On 25 April 2015, I wrote again to Indonesian attorney-general Prasetyo regarding the cases of the two Australian men facing the death penalty, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran," Senator Brandis said in a media statement.
"This was the third occasion on which I have appealed to the Indonesian attorney-general.
"I also understand that the Judicial Commission intends to interview the two men in relation to its investigation into bribery allegations in the original trial.
"Respectfully, the Australian Government calls on the president and attorney-general of Indonesia to stay the executions until the Constitutional Court and Judicial Commission proceedings are completed.
"It would be a terrible outcome if rulings or findings in either of these proceedings called into question executions which have already been implemented and are irrevocable."
A lawyer for two men, Peter Morrissey, said the investigation would only be useful if Chan and Sukumaran were able to take part.
"They'd better not be dead if Indonesia's got the rule of law," Mr Morrissey said.
"You don't kill the prisoners while there's still a court case that could affect their lives.
"So we're very much hoping they'll see sense about that."
Crowds are building in Sydney's Martin Place ahead of vigil for Chan and Sukumaran.
Mercy Campaign co-founder Brigid Delaney said many of their supporters are very upset.
"People want to come together, there's a lot of very distressed people who've been long-term supporters of the campaign and the guys and I think to be together on a night like this is very important," she said.
At least some in the Australian media have pointed out the hypocrisy of whining about how bad capital punishment is, yet we were not only quiet, but supportive when Indonesia executed Amrozi, aka the smiling assassin who laughed at the fact he murdered 88 Australians in a terrorist attack and then turned into a chickenshit coward when the Indonesians were about to shoot him.
This piece encapsulates what I mean by hypocrisy
Are we that parochial that a kangaroo and emu on the front cover is the difference between getting involved and standing on the sidelines?
To date, more than 100 federal politicians have written letters to the Indonesian ambassador, imploring its Government to show mercy and commute their death sentences.
Clearly, it doesn’t take an abacus to work out how many were penned to try to stop the firing squad for the Bali Bombers?
Then-prime minister John Howard said he “couldn’t find it in his heart to publicly ask the Indonesian Government to save the lives of the people who murdered 88 Australians”.
Fortunately, the 8.3kg of heroin being smuggled by the Bali Nine never made it here, so we don’t have to guess as to how many Aussies could have died on the end of a needle.
But, we do know that for both Chan and Sukumaran, the Bali misadventure was not their first run, so we can only guess at how many young lives their actions had already affected.
Ironically, at the time of Mr Howard’s comments, his then-opposition counterpart Simon Crean said, “fact is, the crime was committed on Indonesian soil and Indonesian courts have handed down the death penalty”.
Perhaps we found it easy to recognise Indonesia’s sovereignty back then because it was Indonesians who were being shot to death.
Certainly there were no hysterical calls for boycotts or trade sanctions as there has been over the past week.
Or to publicly condemn the actions of Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, as Sydney shock-jock Alan Jones called for on the national broadcaster.
Jones thought the power of the green and gold was vastly superior to how they choose to run their own country, saying; “It may be their system but they’re our people”.
He went on to suggest that the President be reminded of our previous generosity and somehow, retrospectively this be directly linked to the fate of two drug smugglers.
“Someone has to get on the phone to this bloke and say, well you do what you like but we gave you a billion dollars when you were hit by the tsunami”, he said.
Using Jones’ logic, I would expect Tony Abbott to jump on the blower to the Chinese Premier and threaten to withhold all iron ore exports as a protest over their use of the death sentence.
After all, as our No. 1 trading partner with a $150 billion annual relationship, we should be grossly offended and react strongly anytime they practise capital punishment, shouldn’t we?
