Australian Drug Smugglers File Review to the Constitutional Court: Report
Jakarta. Lawyers for two Australian drug smugglers facing execution filed a judicial review to the Constitutional Court on Thursday challenging the president’s right to issue clemency.
Inneke Kusuma, a lawyer representing the ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, said that the legal team filed the judicial review to the Constitutional Court to challenge the 2011 law which stipulates that foreigners could not file a judicial review.
“We want to change that law,” Inneke said Thursday, as quoted by jpnn.com
Inneke also challenged the 2010 law on the president’s right to grant clemency, claiming President Joko Widodo’s refusal to grant mercy Chan and Sukumaran was in theoretical violation the constitution.
Inneke said Joko had denied her clients clemency without reviewing the evidence against them
“The law on clemency stipulates that the president should make a thorough study in making a decision on a clemency request. There should be a clear mechanism as to why the request is denied or granted,” she said.
Chan and Sukumaran, who were arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin to Australia and sentenced to death in 2006, have exhausted all legal procedures after the State Administrative Court (PTUN) rejected their latest appeal, which challenged Joko’s refusal to grant them a clemency.
The duo have been transferred to Nusakambangan maximum-security prison in Central Java, where executions are set to take place.
Attorney General HM. Prasetyo offered little in the way of encouragement that the eleventh-hour measure would be successful.
“We are not going to wait any longer. We won’t stop the execution,” Prasetyo said.
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Source: The Jakarta Globe