A case in Indonesia’s constitutional court, inspired by the fate of two executed Australians, has the backing of local rights advocates..
Source: AAP
4 Jun 2015 – 1:33 AM UPDATED 4 Jun 2015 – 6:16 AM
Indonesia’s constitutional court is now considering a challenge inspired by the predicament of executed Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan after demanding changes to the application.
The court last month said Jakarta lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who devised the case, lost his power of attorney with the men’s deaths.
Three human rights groups will now take up the case, which demands the court outline the president’s obligations when considering a prisoner’s application for clemency.
Haris Azhar, from rights group Kontras, says if he wasn’t confident the groups could fight on, they wouldn’t have submitted the updated application on Wednesday.
“This challenge is important,” he told AAP.
“People should not so easily be able to have their clemency requests rejected.
“In clemency, the president should make an extra effort to … evaluate the decision when someone else’s life depends on it.” Three NGOs – Kontras, Imparsial and Inisiator Muda – will now wait for the court to set a date for hearing.
Sukumaran, Chan and six other men were executed on April 29 after President Joko Widodo denied them clemency on the basis they were drug offenders.
Controversially, Mr Joko did not examine their individual cases.
For the Australians, that meant their rehabilitation efforts since the 2005 Bali Nine heroin smuggling effort.
Indonesian authorities have evaluated the April executions but are yet to announce who will be next to face the firing squad.
