Australia floats prisoner swap to save Indonesia pair

By: 10 years ago

Philippine national Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, right, who is on death row for drug offences, says a prayer with Catholic priest Bernhard Kieser during her judicial review hearing at Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Two convicted Australian smugglers arrived Wednesday at an Indonesian island prison where they will be executed by firing squad along with seven other foreigners, including Veloso, amid a diplomatic squabble with some of their governments. An Indonesian is also scheduled to be executed. AP

SYDNEY, Australia – Australia on Thursday suggested a prisoner swap with Indonesia in an eleventh hour bid to save two drug smugglers facing execution, as Prime Minister Tony Abbott attended a candlelight vigil for the men.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug trafficking gang, could be killed within days after being moved on Wednesday to the Indonesian island where they are due to face a firing squad.

Authorities must give convicts 72 hours’ notice before they are executed and in a last-ditch effort to save them Foreign Minister Julie Bishop proposed a prisoner swap.

This combination of two file photos from Jan. 24, 2006, left, and Jan. 26, 2006 shows Australian drug traffickers Myuran Sukumaran, left, and Andrew Chan during their trial in Bali, Indonesia. Indonesia said on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015 it postponed the transfer of eight convicted drug smugglers, including seven foreigners, to a prison island for execution due to technical problems. The eight are facing execution despite international appeals for clemency. Among them are Chan and Sukumaran, the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle heroin to Australia from the Indonesian resort island of Bali. AP

Tense phone call

She said she had spoken to her counterpart Retno Marsudi in what media reports said was “a very tense phone call”, but gave no concrete details.

“We are seeking opportunities to explore every option that might be available to us, every avenue that might be available to save the lives of these two men,” she told reporters.

“I’m waiting to hear back from the foreign minister. I spoke to her about it, and she undertook to provide that information to the president.”

She later told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she hoped a prisoner swap could occur.

“I didn’t go into any specific detail but I did note there were Australian prisoners in Jakarta and there were Indonesian prisoners in Australia and that we should explore some opportunity, a prison swap, a transfer, whether that could be done under Indonesian law,” she said.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that any deal could involve three Indonesians in prison in Australia over their role in an infamous 1998 drug bust.

A ferry transfers Indonesian police armored vehicles carrying two Australian prisoners to Nusakambangan island, from Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. Indonesia began transferring the two Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran early Wednesday in preparation for the execution by firing squad of nine foreigners and an Indonesian condemned for drug smuggling, as diplomatic squabbles persist over the executions. AP

Bipartisan vigil

They were named as Kristito Mandagi, Saud Siregar and Ismunandar, the captain, chief officer and engineer respectively of a boat carrying 390 kilograms (860 pounds) of heroin that was seized near Port Macquarie, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Sydney.

Bishop’s comments followed an impromptu bipartisan candlelight vigil for the pair outside the country’s parliament in Canberra early Thursday, also attended by Abbott and opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten.

Abbott, who on Wednesday expressed revulsion at the looming deaths, said he had requested a final telephone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to again push for the men to be spared.

“I can’t guarantee that request will be met,” he said.

Respect, friendship, values

“We respect Indonesia and we honor the friendship that we have with Indonesia, but we stand up for our values and we stand up for our citizens, and these are Australian citizens in extremis.”

Canberra has made more than 20 representations to Indonesian officials since January regarding the pair but Widodo has been unswayed, insisting Indonesia was facing an “emergency” due to rising narcotics use and a tough line must be taken.

Chan and Sukumaran, sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia, recently lost their appeals for presidential clemency, typically the last chance to avoid the firing squad.

They are among several drug convicts, including foreigners from France, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana and Nigeria, who have lost their clemency requests and are expected to be put to death at the same time soon.