Prime Minister Tony
Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop are considering all
options – including the dramatic step of recalling Australia 's ambassador to Indonesia – in a sign of the federal
government's growing fury at the looming executions of Bali
nine duo Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
As Canberra publicly stepped up calls for
clemency for the pair on Monday, Ms Bishop said she was "profoundly
dismayed" at the looming executions but refused to comment publicly
on what the government's response might be.
Ms Bishop
also revealed the Australian government asked Indonesia not
to announce the pending executions on Anzac Day, but that request fell on deaf
ears and that she was "very disappointed that it proceeded in this
way".
Behind
the scenes, discussions are underway at the highest levels of the
Australian government about Canberra
withdrawing Australia 's
ambassador to Indonesia ,
Paul Grigson.
If the withdrawal of Australia 's
ambassador to Jakarta went ahead, it would likely be couched in
the standard diplomatic language of "bringing the ambassador home for
consultations" for several months.
In line with the
actions of other countries – Brazil
and the Netherlands both
withdrew their ambassadors after two of their citizens were executed
in January – the move is being considered to express Australia 's
extreme displeasure.
But the view inside
the Abbott government is the Bali nine
case has gone beyond that of a normal diplomatic hitch, especially in view of
the international outcry it has provoked, culminating at the weekend with a
special plea from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a death penalty
moratorium.
And even as it has
faced an international backlash, Indonesia has forcefully pressed
other countries to spare the lives of its own nationals when they are convicted
of capital crimes and sentenced to death.
The Foreign
Minister appealed for the executions to be delayed on Monday until two
legal processes regarding the men's cases, currently under way, are completed.
"The lawyers
for Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran have been granted a hearing
before the constitutional court. There is also a
judicial commission review under way into the original trial," she
said.
"There have
been some allegations made in relation to the trial and I said [in a
conversation with Indonesian Foreign
Minister Retno Marsudi on Sunday] that Australia ,
indeed the international community, would expect those legal
processes to be concluded before any other action was taken."
Fairfax Media reported on Monday the former lawyer
of Chan and Sukumaran has outlined explosive allegations of corruption by
the judges that sentenced the Bali nine duo to
death, saying they asked for more than $130,000 to give them a prison term of
less than 20 years.
Ms Bishop said
those allegations were very serious.
"They call
into question the integrity of the sentencing process and it's
a matter for Indonesia 's
judicial commission to investigate these matters."
As the diplomatic
row over the impending execution of the two men deepens, former Indonesian
president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday postponed a visit to Perth
for a University of Western Australia conference due to be held on Friday.
"Due to the
sensitivity of the timing of his visit, Dr Yudhoyono has decided to postpone
his trip, but still plans to deliver his keynote address via video
technology," UWA vice-chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said.
Ms
Bishop would not say whether Mr Abbott was attempting to call President
Widodo to ask for clemency. But she did reveal the pair
had spoken recently at the funeral of former Singaporean leader
Lee Kuan Yew.
ANU Indonesia expert Greg Fealy told Fairfax
Media there was no sign President Widodo would reconsider his position,
though there were now signs out of Jakarta
that the president had realised his decision to proceed with the execution had
been based on flawed advice.
"The reality
for him is that public opinion is in favour of these executions proceeding ...
he simply can't change his mind," he said.
Labor foreign
affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said it was
"absolutely completely unacceptable for this sentence to be
carried out while those legal matters are still pending".
Mr Abbott is
in France
and expected to discuss the pending executions with French President
Francois Hollande on Monday.
Mr Hollande has
publicly warned Indonesia of
grave consequences for Indonesia 's
relationship with France
and the EU if French citizen Serge Atlaoui, who is one of the 10 people
on death row and who has earned a temporary reprieve pending a legal
appeal, is executed.
Dave McRae, an
Indonesia expert at Melbourne University's Asia Institute, said Australia
should take firm action to make it clear to Indonesia "there will be consequences"
if the executions go ahead.
"I think it
has to be more than simply expressing condemnation. I think you're looking at a
firmer response that might include suspending certain areas of co-operation for
a period," he said.
He said it was
important for all countries to "act together to show there are
costs".
For instance, Indonesia should be made to feel that its
stubbornness could put its citizens at risk because other countries that have
the death penalty would spurn Jakarta 's
pleas for clemency for its own nationals in future.
"The things
that have allowed abolitionists to gain even temporarily the upper hand in
Indonesia have all been things that create pragmatic reasons to abolish [the
death penalty], of which the imperative to protect Indonesia's citizens abroad
… was the most prominent example."
0 التعليقات