All hope lost as Bali court refuses review

THE Denpasar District Court has refused Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s application for a judicial review.

THE last lifeline for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran is severed — Denpasar District Court has refused their applic­ation for a judicial review of their death sentences.

Court spokesman Hasoloan Sianturi said yesterday the judic­ial review (PK) application that was filed on Friday had been refused­: “The documents of that PK will not be sent to the Sup­reme Court.”

The application, the Bali Nine pair’s last legal possibility to delay their executions, did not meet the criterion of presenting new evidence to the court, Mr Hasoloan said yesterday, and a second review was impossible once President Joko Widodo had refused clemency.

Chan, now 31, and Sukumaran, 33, were sentenced to death in February 2006 for their leading role in the plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Australia.

After reviewing the case in 2010-11, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences.

In Jakarta early yesterday, the Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo said the administration had begun notifying embassies whose citizens were on the Indon­esian death-list that executions will be carried out.

Asked if the Australian embassy had been notified, Mr Prasetyo said: “I forget.”

He said that no time had yet been set for the second round of executions, after five foreign drug offenders and an Indonesian woman were put to death on January 18.

However, the executions by firing squad are now expected within the month.

Mr Joko made it clear yesterday that he intends carrying out death sentences pending on eight drug criminals — seven of them foreigners — and on any others who ask for clemency in future.

Foreign leaders seeking clemency for drug convicts were being told that Indonesia now has a “no forgiveness” policy for narcotics crimes, the President said yesterday.

“My answer to presidents and prime ministers who have called me, so that they know, is every day 50 people die (in Indonesia, from drugs) so every year 18,000 people.

“That is beside those who need rehabilitation, 4.2 million to 4.5 million people … there are 1.2 million people who cannot be rehabilitated.

“I have said to those whose death penalties are decided, who then ask for clemency from the President, I say: ‘No forgiveness for narcotics and the drugs business. No.’ ”

Additional reporting: Telly Nathalia