Indonesian court rejects legal challenges by Australians on death row

2015-04-06 18

A court in Indonesia has rejected last-ditch legal challenges by two Australians convicted of drugs charges.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are facing execution by firing squad.

Today’s court decision means they cannot appeal against the president’s decision to refuse them clemency.

Chan and Sukumaran were convicted in 2006 of being the ringleaders of a plot to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.

In the wake of the latest verdict,
their lawyer says he will file a legal challenge to the Constitutional Court. But the attorney general’s office has said there are no further options to avoid the death penalty.

The Australians are among a group of drug convicts, of various nationalities, due to be executed.

There have been repeated pleas for clemency from Australia, Brazil and France.

Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.