A ‘sadistic’ double murderer has been granted clemency by the Indonesia President Joko Widodo, while two of the Bali Nine ringleaders remain on death row.
By Freya Noble and Belinda Grant Geary For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 23:36 GMT, 14 March 2015 | Updated: 00:47 GMT, 15 March 2015
A ‘sadistic’ double murderer has been granted clemency by the Indonesia President Joko Widodo, while two of the Bali Nine ringleaders remain on death row.
Just weeks after Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were denied clemency, Dwi Trisna Firmansyah had his death sentence reduced to life.
The 27-year-old was one of three killers involved in the brutal premeditated murder of a shop owner and his school- aged son in April 2012,News Corp reported.
After the murders the group stole the shop owner’s car, along with a number of mobile phones and phone credit.
Their appeal to the Supreme Court earlier this year failed, but Firmansyah was then shown mercy amid the Indonesian President’s tirade against convicted drug smugglers.
This comes after it was revealed Chan and Sukumaran could have their executions delayed for months as other death row inmates take on lengthy court appeals.
It has been revealed by the Indonesian attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo that the execution of the Bali nine duo will take place at the same time as several other foreigners on death row.
This could delay the pair’s execution as all avenues of legal appeal for the other eight convicted drug offenders must be exhausted before their death sentence can be carried out.
This means Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran may have months to wait before they face the firing squad.
Mr Prasetyo also claims the death row inmates will be put through an ‘assimilation’ process which he believes will help them mentally prepare for their death.
‘They will be accompanied by religious figures until they’re truly ready,’ he said.
The two men are currently being held in isolation cells where they are able talk to each other.
Their interaction with other inmates is limited to one Nigerian who is also on death row.
Prison authorities claim there’s been no order to move Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran from ‘Death Island’ even though the appeals process may be lengthy.
The pair’s lawyers will return to Jakarta court on Thursday to challenge President Widodo’s decision to deny clemency to all drug offenders.
Their last appeal was adjourned until March 20 as the president’s representative did not have the required legal documentation.
Two weeks earlier, the Administrative Court dismissed their argument that President Widodo failed to consider their rehabilitation.
The claim was rejected on the grounds that the court had no authority to overturn presidential decree.
The Australian government, alongside several notable public figures, have made repeated pleas to spare the lives of Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has written to the Indonesia government offering to cover the cost of life imprisonment for the condemned pair if they agree to call off their execution
Ms Bishop is yet to receive a response.
The families of the convicted drug offenders have been allowed to visit twice since their transfer to Nusakambangan island last Wednesday, with their next visit scheduled for Monday.
This news comes as a prisoner art exhibition and auction featuring Mr Sukumaran’s work was dramatically cancelled after Kerobokan prison authorities said they didn’t want to associate with the prisoners pending execution.
The Kerobokan Jail governor Sudjonggo ordered all 92 prisoner paintings to be removed before the exhibition commenced.
He claims that authorities we unaware the event was advertised as a tribute to Mr Sukumaran, a former art teacher at the prison.
‘It is cancelled because we do not want to be involved in any matters relating to Myuran. I have conveyed to the organisers about that and they promised that none of Myuran’s paintings will be at the exhibition,’ Sydjonggo said.
‘It doesn’t mean that we are forgetting Myuran. No. But we just don’t want to be involved in the discourse about the execution which is now already politicised,’ he added.
The money raised by auctioning off the prisoners artwork was to be used to continue funding the art program at the Kerobokan prison as well as building a gallery intended to showcase the works of ex-prisoners who were mentored by Mr Sukumaran.
Mr Sukumaran has been unable to paint since his transfer to ‘Death Island’ however prison authorities say Mr Sukumaran will eventually be allowed to have his art materials.
