Bali Nine convict appeals for clemency

Bali Nine ringleader, Myuran Sukumaran, 31, has lodged an appeal for presidential clemency after the Indonesian Supreme Court turned down his previous appeal to have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence.

Signed by his lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, the 46-page clemency appeal, dated July 6, argues that Sukumaran has acted positively during his years in Kerobokan prison.

He has participated in various activities, such as theater, arts and painting, English language club, philosophy classes and boxing.

In the appeal for clemency, Todung wrote that Sukumaran had been successfully rehabilitated and was now a role model for fellow inmates at Kerobokan prison.

Together with eight Australian drug traffickers, notoriously known as the Bali Nine, Sukumaran was convicted for the attempt in 2005 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Bali to Australia.

The Bali Nine members include Sukumuran and Andrew Chan, both on death row, Scott Anthony Rush, Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Than Nguyen, all serving life sentences.

In May, Andrew Chan also appealed for presidential clemency.

Amser Simanjuntak, spokesperson for the Denpasar District Court, told Bali Daily on Monday that the 46-page clemency appeal consisted of arguments saying that Sukumaran deserved clemency.

“We have received both clemency appeals from Andrew Chan and Sukumaran and testimonies from Kerobokan prison officials,” Simanjuntak said.

Appeals for clemency by two of the Bali Nine drug smugglers — Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran, might have been one of the topics brought up during the Indonesian-Australian bilateral talks in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, early last week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received scathing criticism for granting Australian drug smuggler Schapelle Corby a five-year clemency in May.

In a previous meeting in Nusa Dua, President Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard reportedly discussed a range of topics, including the cases of several Australians caught up in Indonesia’s justice system, with Gillard thanking the President for the care shown to the 14-year-old Australian boy facing drug charges in Bali.

Gillard also told the president that the Australian government supported Schapelle Corby’s appeal for clemency and the expected bids for clemency from Bali Nine members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.