Two Australians awaiting execution have been hailed for improving Kerobokan Penitentiary and for helping many of its Indonesian prisoners to prepare for life after jail.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are two members of the so-called Bali Nine, the group of nine Australians arrested for smuggling 8 kilograms of heroin from Denpasar to Australia in 2005.

The pair was sentenced to death in 2006. President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has refused to give them clemency, citing a national emergency due to drugs.

In Australia, a movement called the Mercy Campaign is respectfully asking Jokowi to change his mind.

The campaign'€™s logo is a heart punctured with bullet holes '€” like those executed by firing squad, Indonesia'€™s preferred form of capital punishment.

Their friends say Chan and Sukumaran are the heart of the prison.

One woman, Anna, released from Kerobokan last year after she was incarcerated for drug use, said she witnessed Sukumaran'€™s kindness.

The Balinese woman said the pair inspired other inmates to stay off drugs and develop their skills and knowledge.

'€œIf you only think about the outside, you get stressed,'€ Anna said. '€œYou must do something positive.

'€œAll the things I was able to learn was because of Myuran. First was cooking and then sewing. And then yoga, drawing class, painting, art class, philosophy,'€ she added.

Another former inmate, Keyenk, said the men deserved a second chance, because they had changed after 10 years of incarceration.

'€œOur message to the Indonesian government, from Indonesian people like us, is that it would be better if such good men were given a pardon and a second life,'€ he said.

'€œYes, they made mistakes, but even God forgives.'€

This week, the friends made a painting of the Mercy Campaign logo and took it to the jail as a message of solidarity.

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