Indonesia is scheduled to execute nine convicted drug smugglers — including two of the so-called “Bali Nine” — at midnight local time (1 p.m. ET Tuesday), Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said in a televised statement.
The prisoners will face a 12-man firing squad on Nusa Kambangan island in Central Java.
There was no word on the other seven inmates accused of being the Bali Nine, though it was believed that they, too, would be executed soon. Families of the Bali Nine on Tuesday made a visit to the island where they are being held.
Twelve ambulances, with a least one seen to be carrying an empty casket, also arrived at the port of Cilacap, the departure point for Nusa Kambangan island, off the south coast of Java.
But when the government confirmed that nine people would be executed by firing squad, only two of those listed — Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan — are part of the Bali Nine.
Chan married his longtime girlfriend Febyanti Herewila in prison on Monday.
The announced executions of Sukumaran and Chan come despite the fact that both this week received a court date of May 12 to hear an outstanding legal challenge.
Lawyers for the men also say Indonesia’s Judicial Commission has yet to properly investigate claims of corruption during their original trial and sentencing. They say three of the men’s Indonesian lawyers had been summoned to attend the commission on May 7.
It’s a day their families and friends hoped would never come, but it’s also one that Indonesia, despite years of protest and legal appeals, has insisted has to happen.
The death penalty
The nine prisoners confirmed to be executed Tuesday are expected to be led to an isolated area. Under Indonesian law, the death penalty is carried out by a 12-man firing squad, although only three guns are loaded with live ammunition.
Prisoners are given the choice of whether to stand or sit, and whether they want to wear a blindfold, hood or nothing. The shots — aimed at the heart — are fired from between five and 10 meters (16 to 33 feet), according to Amnesty International.
On Tuesday, the prisoners’ families were heard wailing as they boarded a boat for what’s expected to be their final goodbyes. Reporters at the port in Cilacap described harrowing scenes on Twitter.
“Myu’s sister Brintha collapsed in screams. Helen Chan was supported by 2 women. Truly heartbreaking. #Bali9,” wrote Nine News reporter Jayne Azzopardi.
Indonesia fighting ‘drugs crisis’
While the Bali Nine have garnered much international attention, their punishment is just part of a larger government effort to combat illegal drug trafficking.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has insisted that Indonesia will not be swayed by appeals for clemency because the country is dealing with a “drugs crisis.” He told CNN in January that clemency would not be extended to drug traffickers, leading to an appeal from Chan and Sukumaran that their cases hadn’t been properly considered.
Lawyers for the two men say they’ve undergone radical rehabilitation during their 10 years in Kerobokan prison, and now offer support and services to others.
On Monday, the prisoners’ brothers again appealed to Widodo for mercy.
“We please ask the president to use his powers and intervene and save their lives,” said Chinthu Sukumaran.
“He’s the only one who can stop it and it’s not too late to do so. So I please ask the president, please show mercy,” said Michael Chan.
A vigil was set to be held in Martin Place in Sydney on Tuesday night.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had received a letter from her Indonesian counterpart on Monday that gave no indication the executions would be stopped.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Attorney-General George Brandis on Tuesday issued a statement saying he’d again written to his counterpart in Indonesia — H.M. Prasetyo — to appeal for the executions to be halted.
“I drew to his attention that proceedings are still underway in both the Indonesian Constitutional Court and the Indonesian Judicial Commission that are relevant to Mr. Chan and Mr. Sukumaran,” he wrote in the statement.
“These proceedings raise serious questions regarding the integrity of the two men’s initial sentence and the clemency process. It is important that these actions are heard in full before any further steps are taken,” he said.
The Bali Nine
It was expected that all of the Bali Nine inmates would face the firing squad Wednesday because over the weekend, they were given 72-hours’ notice of their impending execution.
Images show individual crosses have been made, bearing the prisoners’ names and the date April 29, 2015. Past executions suggest the shots will be fired in the early hours of Wednesday morning, after midnight.
Lawyers fighting to delay the death of Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic helper and mother of two, have said they’ve given up their bid after her second legal review was rejected on Monday. This came despite a last-minute personal appeal from Philippines President Benigno Aquino to Indonesia’s President.
Still, Veloso’s execution was not among the ones announced Tuesday.
Her lawyers claim she was the victim of human trafficking and wasn’t aware she was carrying drugs. On Tuesday, CNN Philippines reported that Veloso’s alleged recruiters, Maria Kristina Sergio and her partner Julius Lacanilao, surrendered themselves to authorities.
The report says Sergio denies all accusations in relation to Veloso’s case.
The Bali Nine prisoners who were not listed among the nine to be executed at midnight are Nigerians Raheem Salami, Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise and Okwudil Oyatanze, Martin Anderson — who was initially identified as Ghanian — and Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte — who is said to be mentally ill.
Frenchman Serge Atlaoui’s execution has been delayed while a court considers a legal challenge. The only Indonesian on the condemned list is Zainal Abidin.
Final hope fading
Friends are still hoping for a miracle.
“It’s just so wrong, on so many levels it’s just so wrong,” said Malinda Rutter, a documentary producer who grew to know Chan as a friend during the filming of an anti-drugs campaign “Dear Me.”
“It was February when I went to say goodbye,” Rutter said. “He was a bit stressed, but Andrew’s a pretty remarkable person. It’ll be dignified. I think the world has to embrace their mothers and their families.”
On his Facebook page, Australian artist Ben Quilty, Sukumaran’s mentor and friend, posted a direct message to the Indonesian President: “Joko Widodo tonight you will kill two good men, my friends. I want you to know that you may take their freedom and their lives, you may rob their fellow inmates of the support and love that both men have offered and provided for so long… but you will never kill the memory of them.”
Chan and Sukumaran were arrested in 2005 as part of the “Bali Nine,” a drug smuggling gang that intended to import eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) of heroin from Bali to Australia. They failed.
Consecutive appeals have been rejected and earlier this year both men learned — like the other prisoners set to be executed — that their appeals to Widodo had failed.
