Along with
one Indonesian, two Australians, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and a Philippines
citizen could be shot as early as midnight on Tuesday local time
 |
| Protesters from the migrant worker community during a protest to support Mary Jane Veloso. Photograph: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images |
Last-ditch
diplomatic efforts to spare some of the eight foreign nationals scheduled to
face a firing squad in Indonesia for drug offences have intensified as the end
of a 72-hour notice period looms.
Along with
Indonesian Zainul Abidin, four Nigerians, two Australians, a Brazilian and a
Philippines citizen could be shot as early as midnight on Tuesday local time.
The
condemned include Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, for their part
in the plot to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali in 2005.
Hopes have
been raised that 30-year-old Filipina Mary Jane Veloso could be spared
following lobbying on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur by the
Philippines president Benigno Aquino.
A statement
on Monday from the Indonesian president Joko Widodo indicated he was
sympathetic to her case and would consult with the country’s attorney general
before “resum[ing] the conversation” with Aquino.
Supporters
of Veloso claim the single mother was unaware her suitcase contained about
2.6kg of heroin when she flew into Yogyakarta in 2010. Philippines boxer and
lawmaker Manny Pacquiao joined the calls to show Veloso clemency on Sunday.
Relations
between Jakarta and Canberra have frayed over plans to execute Chan and
Sukumaran. The Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has been trying to speak
with Widodo by phone for seven weeks, and wrote a letter to the Indonesian
leader at the weekend, appealing for mercy.
“This is
not in the best interests of Indonesia, let alone in the interests of the young
Australians concerned,” he said on Monday.
Julie
Bishop, the Australian foreign minister, warned on Monday that carrying out the
mass execution would “harm Indonesia’s international standing”.
“I’ve
called on the president of Indonesia to reconsider his refusal to grant
clemency and I do not believe it is too late for a change of heart,” she said,
raising the fact that Widodo has campaigned to spare Indonesian citizens on
death row around the world.
“I ask no
more of Indonesia than it has asked of other nations where Indonesian citizens
are on death row, including for serious drug offences,” she said.
Protesters
massed outside the Indonesian consulate in Sydney on Monday evening. The former
Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yuhyohono has cancelled an address to the
University of Western Australia that was scheduled for Friday, citing
“sensitive timing”.
Controversy
also surrounds the Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, whose lawyers claim suffers from
bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
The UN
secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, joined the chorus of opposition to the executions
on Sunday, asking that Widodo “urgently consider declaring a moratorium on
capital punishment in Indonesia, with a view toward abolition”.
Serge
Atlaoui of France won a temporary reprieve at the weekend after officials
agreed to wait until his legal challenges have been exhausted. The French
president, Francois Hollande, had warned of severe “consequences with France
and Europe” if the Frenchman were killed.
The
Indonesian president has otherwise refused to be swayed by the international
pressure, pledging to clear the country’s death row of drug offenders as part
of a crackdown on the “national emergency” of narcotics. Official figures are
unreliable, but it is estimated around 41 foreigners are currently on death row
in Indonesia for drug crimes.
Six people,
including five foreigners, were shot in the first round of executions on 18
January, among them a Dutch and Brazilian citizen. Both countries pulled their
ambassadors from Indonesia in retaliation.
It was
revealed on Monday that the king of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, had
personally appealed to Widodo to spare the Dutchman, 52-year-old Ang Kiem Soe.
Brazil has
also refused to accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador.
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