GUILTY Bali - Bali Nine, Australians arrested for heroin trafficking, 2005

[SouthAussie]

:thud:

The six judges who handed down the death penalty to the Bali nine pair on death row offered to give them a lighter sentence in exchange for money, the men's Indonesian legal team allege.

The sensational allegation is contained in a letter sent by the legal team of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to Indonesia's judicial committee, claiming there had been a breach of ethics.

The letter says the judges received pressure from "certain parties" to hand out the death penalty.

The lawyers, led by human rights advocate Todung Mulya Lubis, also told the judicial committee that all six judges who brought down the death sentence had breached ethics. The letter says the judges received pressure from "certain parties" to hand out the death penalty.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/bali...ghter-sentence-new-claim-20150215-13fe14.html

Well, why doesn't this surprise me at all? With the things we have been researching and discovering in the Sheila von Wiese Mack case, and the things I am reading in Snowing in Bali, corruption and bribery are commonplace throughout Indonesia and run the gamut from the police on the streets, to the lawyers, to the prosecutors, to the judges, to the prison staff.

Relieving yourself of huge chunks of money can buy a reduced sentence, reduced charges, jailhouse luxuries .... with lawyers driving phenomenally expense vehicles and living very large, considering their reported $1,500-$2,000 per month salaries.

I wonder if this is why the two MPs are scheduling a visit with Andrew and Myuran? There is an effort going on to curtail the ingrained bribery and graft in that country, but it has not been particularly successful so far.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

There have been a few cases in Bali that have 'disappeared' and the person released quickly without serving much time, do you guys all remember that model from Sydney years back? I think her boyfriends family ran a chain of high profile car yards, anyway I wont say her name here, but it was fairly obvious a bribe had been involved in her case, she was found with party drugs on her though, not trafficking, but she was suddenly released and not a word spoken in the media, personally I do not blame them one bit if they paid a bribe to get her home.

 

[SouthAussie]

I agree, Mrs G. Most families would buy their loved ones' way out of trouble if they were financially able to do so.

But what a messed up way to run a justice system. The rich get to live and be free, the poor get to die and remain imprisoned - for the same crimes.

 

[SouthAussie]

The head of the Bali prosecutors' office confirmed on Monday afternoon that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be taken to the maximum security Batu prison on the penal island. Ten officers from the paramilitary force Brimob will escort the two men to Nusakambangan.

Momock Bambang Samiarso said the transfer would not take place on Monday - and was unlikely to happen on Tuesday - but would definitely happen this week.

"It will be a chartered commercial flight on a plane that will seat 20 to 30 people," he said.

Mr Samiarso said he would notify the families as soon as possible. ..... Chan and Sukumaran are on death row, will be the first transferred. They would be later joined by felons from prisons in Madiun and Yogyakarta.

"Only after everybody is gathered at Nusakambangan will the D-day be decided," Mr Spontana said.

Eleven prisoners on death row for drug and murder charges are expected to be killed in the second round of executions in Indonesia this year.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-ni...his-week-authorities-say-20150216-13gbn0.html

 

[SouthAussie]

Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed on Monday he made a further plea for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's lives to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

And a judge involved in handing down the death sentence to the two drug smugglers has denied allegations there was political intervention or bribery in the case.

Meanwhile, a new Lowy Institute poll has found that 62 per cent of Australians oppose the execution of Chan and Sukumaran.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/bali-ni...his-week-authorities-say-20150216-13gbn0.html

 

[SouthAussie]

Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are calling for a halt to plans to move them from their Bali jail for execution, after receiving a summons to appear in court.

... lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis has been asked to front the state administrative court in Jakarta next Tuesday, where he is challenging the presidential decree that denied them clemency.

Mr Lubis urged Attorney-General HM Prasetyo to halt plans to move the men from Bali’s Kerobokan jail to central Java’s Nusakambangan island, where the executions will take place.

‘It’s hard to reverse that, once they are moved there,’ he said.

‘For the sake of justice and fairness I think it is fair for the attorney-general to wait for this legal process to finish.’

But Mr Prasetyo’s spokesman on Monday said plans were moving ahead ...

http://www.echo.net.au/2015/02/desperate-days-death-row-australians/

 

[SouthAussie]

“This is prima facie evidence that the legal process is still ongoing,” said Lubis, holding up the letter as proof.

“I hope this legal process will be respected by the attorney general and all parts of the government,” Lubis said. “So they cannot move them, not to mention execute them, while the legal process is still going on.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...and-myuran-sukumaran-hold-on-to-signs-of-hope

 

[SouthAussie]

If there was any doubt in the Indonesian government's mind about how the Australian government feels about the impending executions of Andrew and Myuran, it should now be crystal clear to them.


Six former PMs, one plea

Earlier today, in an extraordinary show of bipartisanship, all of Australia’s living former prime ministers have joined the calls for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be given clemency.

As the ringleaders of the Bali Nine drug smuggling operation face execution, John Howard, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser all expressed their concern over the fate of the two Australians.

Their intervention came as Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the Australian Federal Police should have waited until the men were in Australia to arrest them, rather than tipping off the Indonesian police.

In separate statements to the Australian newspaper, the group pleaded with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to spare the two men’s lives saying they believed they had rehabilitated.

http://www.news.com.au/national/six...ed-bali-nine-duo/story-fncynjr2-1227222259664


And ....

PLANS to move Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to Nusa Kambangan island to await their execution may be delayed.

Sources have told News Corp Australia that the Indonesian Attorney General last night instructed Bali officials to delay the move which was planned for this week and could have gone ahead as early as tonight.

 

[SouthAussie]

An Indonesian official has told the BBC that the executions are unlikely to go ahead this month. lease:

Tony Spontana, spokesman for Indonesia's attorney general's office, said preparations at the high-security Nusa Kambangan prison, where the executions will be carried out, had taken longer than expected.

Earlier, Attorney General H M Prasetyo said their move there was being delayed so that Chan and Sukumaran could spend more time with their families.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-31497518

 

[SouthAussie]

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is urging Indonesia to remember the huge contribution Australia made in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and repay that generosity by sparing the lives of the two Australians on death row in Bali.

Mr Abbott's comments, in which he sought to remind the Indonesian people of the Australian lives lost helping Indonesians cope with the natural disaster, marks the Australian government's strongest response to the planned executions to date.

Mr Abbott said a short delay in Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's planned executions was an "encouraging straw in the wind" but was no sign of clemency and warned there would be consequences if the pair are killed.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...tance-and-aid-generosity-20150218-13hoty.html

 

[SouthAussie]

A vigil in support of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran has heard emotional statements from the pair, who say the "compassion and kindness from people forgiving our stupidity" has made them feel "truly blessed".

"Please tell everyone at tonight's vigils in Australia that we are amazed at how kind and supportive everyone has been and it has touched our hearts," Sukumaran said, in a letter read by The Chaser's Craig Reucassel.

Reucassel also read a letter from Chan to the service. "This campaign is more than just about myself or Myu. It represents a second chance and forgiveness. It represents kindness and help for those in helpless situations.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-18/vigils-held-for-bali-nine-pair-facing-execution/6143978

 

[Mrs G Norris]

I don't think people are 'forgiving' their 'stupidity' I think people are genuinely disgusted at the death penalty and don't want to see them killed by firing squad, that does not equate to forgiveness, or less disgust at the crime they were convicted for.

 

[SouthAussie]

Indonesia has delayed the execution of two Australian drug smugglers by up to a month, backtracking on an earlier pledge to put the pair before the firing squad by the end of February.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's office on Friday said the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” heroin trafficking group, “will be delayed for between three weeks to a month from now due to technical reasons”, without elaborating further.

http://www.therakyatpost.com/world/...cution-two-australians-denies-pressure-blame/

:hot:

 

[Brightbird]

Does anyone else think this whole 'delay because the killing field isn't ready yet' is saving face for something else? My worry is that they're waiting to reject the legal appeals with no intention of considering them, just so that they can't be criticised for executing people with appeals pending.

 

[JLSChook]

I'm Canadian and I believe in the death penalty (for some cases). I do not, however, believe that ANYONE should be put to death for drug dealing/trafficking. Preposterous!

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Things just ramped up a notch ...

THE Indonesian military is preparing to mobilise weapons systems to counter “threats” in the coming transfer of Bali Nine leaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Bali to the prison island of Nusakambangan.

In signs Indonesia is reacting extremely badly to Australia’s relatively moderate condemnation of the executions, the head of Indonesia’s armed forces, four-star General Moeldoko, gave a barely veiled warning for Australia to keep its distance.

“We will hold a meeting to discuss the possibility of threats,” the general told Indonesian media.

“Intelligence units and weapons will be ready. Special unit commanders must also be ready.”

The statements indicate the Indonesian military, or TNI, will now take over the transfer of the pair from Bali from the paramilitary police force Brimob, which had previously been tasked with moving them.

http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/weapons-mobilised-to-combat-bali-nine-threats/story-fnh81fz8-1227233232643

 

[Mrs G Norris]

Mother whose daughter died of heroin overdose says Bali Nine duo ‘should be executed’

“These are criminals who have been glorified as heroes,” said Ms Neal.

“Who knows how many other lives would have been lost if they had not been caught in Bali.”

http://www.news.com.au/national/mot...ould-be-executed/story-fncynjr2-1227232919861

Some new information in that article from Indonesia's attorney general:

Indonesia’s attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo yesterday said “nothing whatsoever” could stop the execution of Chan and Sukumaran, vowing they would face the firing squad as soon as possible.

 

[JLSChook]

^^ Yeah, because I'm sure they tied her daughter down and shot heroin into her arm. I'm sorry, I feel bad for her, but that is ridiculous.

Like there isn't or won't be any more drug traffickers left on the planet if these 2 are put to death. :facepalm:

 

[Mrs G Norris]

^^ Yeah, because I'm sure they tied her daughter down and shot heroin into her arm. I'm sorry, I feel bad for her, but that is ridiculous.

Like there isn't or won't be any more drug traffickers left on the planet if these 2 are put to death. :facepalm:

True that, she's in denial there for sure.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Mother whose daughter died of heroin overdose says Bali Nine duo ‘should be executed’

“These are criminals who have been glorified as heroes,” said Ms Neal.

“Who knows how many other lives would have been lost if they had not been caught in Bali.”

http://www.news.com.au/national/mot...ould-be-executed/story-fncynjr2-1227232919861

Some new information in that article from Indonesia's attorney general:

Indonesia’s attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo yesterday said “nothing whatsoever” could stop the execution of Chan and Sukumaran, vowing they would face the firing squad as soon as possible.

This is a tough one. I feel sorry for a parent to lose a child through drug abuse. What led them to use it in the first place is my first thought. There's usually a back story. I'm sure we've all got stories we could share about drug abuse.
It doesn't help me saying I don't believe in the death penalty but there you have it.