ONE of several convicted drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia has painted three self-portraits which his lawyer presented to the media on Saturday (April 25).
Two Australian drug convicts were notified on Saturday (April 25), that they will be executed by firing squad in 72 hours at the Indonesian prison island of Nusakambangan.
The Attorney General’s office said notices were delivered that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, along with one Nigerian and four other death-row drug convicts, would face a firing squad after 72 hours. The executions are going ahead despite last-minute appeals for clemency from the Australian government and others.
They could be executed as soon as Tuesday (April 28).
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two Australians arrested as ringleaders of the ‘Bali Nine’ drug-smuggling group, were among the seven, lawyers said.
Julian McMahon, the Australian lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran, after returning fromNusakambangan on Saturday, displayed the three self-portraits painted by Sukumaran to media gathered in Wijaya Pura port, at Cilacap in central Java Province.
On the back of one was written: “The 72 hours just started”, seemingly a reference to the notice of their imminent execution.
Indonesia has harsh punishments for drug crimes and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.
Six executions have been carried out so far this year.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Indonesia had notified her government the execution of the two Australian men would be “scheduled imminently”.
“Nothing can be gained and much will be lost if these two young Australians are executed,” she said in a statement, urging clemency and that legal challenges still outstanding should be heard.
The members of the Bali Nine were arrested at the main airport on the holiday island of Bali for trying to smuggle 8 kg (18 lb) of heroin to Australia.
The seven other members of the gang, all Australians, have been jailed in Indonesia. (Reuters)
