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Australia warns Indonesia against executions

January 19, 2015

Australia has pleaded clemency for two Australians on death row in Indonesia over drug trafficking convictions. It comes a day after Jakarta executed five foreigners and one Indonesian national for drugs offences.

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Indonesien Gefängnis
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would not rule out withdrawing Canberra's ambassador to Indonesia, if Jakarta went ahead and executed two Australians on death row, as planned.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were convicted in 2006 as leaders of the so-called 'Bali Nine' group, caught in 2005 trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali. Sentences in the case ranged from 15 years' jail to death.

Sukumaran and Chan, who are being held in Bali's Kerobokan prison (above), face execution by firing squad. Sukumaran has been told his bid for clemency has been rejected, while Chan is still waiting on his. However, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said pardons will not be granted.

Bishop said on Monday that Australia had made more than 50 appeals to Indonesia not to execute the pair over the past few years.

Australien Aussenministerin Julie Bishop Nov. 2013
Julie Bishop says Canberra has asked for clemency for the pair some 50 timesImage: Reuters

"Over the last decade, successive Australian governments have made numerous representations. But on each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our representations," Bishop told Sky News.

'Over the last decade, successive Australian governments have made numerous representations. But on each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our representations.' - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/19/bishop-raises-bali-nine-case-with-indonesians.html#sthash.nngsuklz.dpuf
'Over the last decade, successive Australian governments have made numerous representations. But on each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our representations.' - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/19/bishop-raises-bali-nine-case-with-indonesians.html#sthash.nngsuklz.dpuf
'Over the last decade, successive Australian governments have made numerous representations. But on each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our representations.' - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/19/bishop-raises-bali-nine-case-with-indonesians.html#sthash.nngsuklz.dpuf
'Over the last decade, successive Australian governments have made numerous representations. But on each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our representations.' - See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/01/19/bishop-raises-bali-nine-case-with-indonesians.html#sthash.nngsuklz.dpuf

Her comments are the latest in a complicated diplomatic history between the two nations, which escalated in 2013 after reports Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials - including the former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.

Bishop's comments came a day after Indonesia executed six people for drugs offences, five of them foreign nationals from Brazil, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Malawi and Vietnam. Following the executions, Brazil and the Netherlands withdrew their ambassadors from the country.

jr/rc (dpa, Reuters)