Bali Nine ringleaders launch appeal to escape death

TWO ringleaders of the Bali Nine heroin ring have launched a new legal bid to escape the firing squad, arguing that Indonesia's constitution enshrines their right to life.

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran today lodged their appeal with Indonesia's Constitutional Court, with their lawyers saying the South-East Asian country's constitution affords life as a basic human right.

The pair, who were sentenced to execution by firing squad in Denpasar's District Court in February last year, are challenging the constitutional validity of the law under which they were sentenced.

Prominent Jakarta-based human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said the lawyers were "challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty under the law".

"The reason for filing ... is because the death penalty is against the constitution," he said.

"There's no legal basis, there's no constitutional basis for the death penalty in the Indonesian legal system."

Mr Todung said he "was very optimistic", of a positive outcome.

Sukumaran – the ringleader of the failed bid to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia in April 2005 – and Chan, his deputy, are fighting a court ruling that they must face the firing squad for their crimes.

The challenge follows two failed appeals against their sentences, in the Indonesian High Court and Supreme Court.

In their most recent appeal, the Supreme Court last year upheld their death sentence saying none of their legal objections – including that the sentence was against the Indonesian constitution and excessive – could be justified.

The Constitutional Court does not have the power to overturn their death sentences.

Instead, any ruling in their favour will be used to add legal weight to their planned last-ditch appeal against their executions to the Supreme Court, known as a judicial review, later this year.

Three Islamic militants convicted over the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings have used a similar legal strategy in their current Supreme Court judicial review.

The Constitutional Court in 2004 ruled the trials for some of the Bali bombers were unconstitutional because the anti-terror laws used were put in place after the 2002 terrorist attacks, and thus retroactive.

However, it is unclear how much weight the Supreme Court will give the ruling when considering the Bali bombers' current appeal.

Chan and Sukumaran, both from Sydney, were among nine young Australians arrested in Bali by Indonesian authorities on drugs charges in April 2005, following a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police.

Chan, 23, was removed from a commercial flight as it was about to depart Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Police found three mobile phones but no drugs in his possession.

Sukumaran, 25, was caught with three others at the Melasti Hotel, at Kuta Beach, with five mobile phones and 350g of heroin.

He denied any involvement in the heroin operation at the airport.

Separate Supreme Court appeals by the two men were thrown out in September, when the court also upgraded the punishment of four other Bali Nine members from life sentences to death.

Those four – Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen and Scott Rush – are also planning higher legal challenges to their death sentences.

Mr Todung said he expected a preliminary hearing would take place next week.

Head of administration at the Constitutional Court, Kasianur Sidauruk, said it was the first time foreigners had challenged Indonesian law in the courts.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 18 Jan 2007
Source: news.com.au (Australia -Web)
Reporter: Karen Michelmore
Website: http://www.news.com.au