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RI firm on fate of Australian drug smugglers: Kalla
Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denied speculation that the Indonesian government will postpone the execution of two Australian drug convicts because it is under pressure from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott
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ice President Jusuf Kalla has denied speculation that the Indonesian government will postpone the execution of two Australian drug convicts because it is under pressure from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
'No, not because of that [Abbott's statement]. The legal process is still going,' Kalla told reporters after giving an address to the national meeting of the United Development Party (PPP) in South Jakarta on Thursday.
He said that the decision to delay the execution of two Australian nationals, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, was due to technical issues.
Earlier, Attorney General's Office (AGO) spokesman Tony Spontana revealed that the reason for the postponement was to give the Australian government more time to arrange a reunion between the two death-row inmates and members of their families.
Australian media outlets recently reported that Australian Prime Minister Abbott had called on the Indonesian government not to forget the aid given by Australia to Aceh during and after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the province.
He expected that the Indonesian government would cancel the executions in return for Australia's assistance.
Abbott stated, as reported by Reuters, that Australia would feel 'grievously let down' if the executions proceeded despite the roughly A$1 billion in assistance it gave after the 2004 disaster.
He said he was referring to 'the obvious strength of the relationship' between the two countries.
'I was pointing out the depth of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia and the fact that Australia has been there for Indonesia when Indonesia has been in difficulty,' Abbott told reporters in Tasmania.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also criticized the double standards of the Indonesian government, which she said made every effort to save its citizens facing death row overseas, despite pushing ahead with executing foreign criminals at home.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta he hoped Abbott's statement did not 'reflect the true colors of Australians'.
'Threats are not part of diplomatic language and no one responds well to threats,' he said.
Analysts said that Abbott had made a blunder with his statement.
Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) said that Abbott's statement would only anger the Indonesian public and harden the resolve of the government.
'Abbott's statement is regrettable,' he said.
Hikmahanto said Abbott gave the impression that Indonesia was dependent on Australia because of tsunami aid.
'The humanitarian relief was given to make Indonesia dependent on Australia and at present, Australia is using this dependence to save the two Australians, but in reality Indonesia never depends on Australia,' he said.
UI analyst Makmur Keliat said Abbott's statement was a bump in the road in the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia.
'The statement did not reflect changes in the substantive bilateral relationship between the two countries,' Makmur said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia not to execute prisoners for drug crimes. Also facing the death penalty in Indonesia for drug offenses are citizens of Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines.
The two Australians were accused of being leaders of the Bali Nine, a group of nine Australians arrested on the resort island in 2005 and convicted of attempting to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia.
President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, Kalla, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly and Attorney General HM Prasetyo have all insisted that despite increasing calls from the UN and foreign governments for Indonesia not to proceed with the executions, the government would still execute 11 death-row convicts, eight of whom were foreigners sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
The 11 prisoners that the AGO has listed for the upcoming batch of executions are Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, Frenchman Serge Areski Atlaoui, Ghanaian Martin Anderson, Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami and four Indonesian convicts ' Syofial alias Iyen bin Azwar, Zainal Abidin, Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi and Harun bin Ajis.
