AG won't wait for another Bali Nine appeal

After the Bali Nine pair lost their appeal, Indonesia's attorney-general says enough is enough and he won't wait for them to file a new legal action.

bali nine pair

Australian drug traffickers on death row Myuran Sukumaran, left, and Andrew Chan. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have lost their final chance at being spared execution, and Indonesia won't respect any fresh legal action for the Australians, the attorney-general says.

HM Prasetyo had vowed to wait for 10 death row prisoners to exhaust their legal options before setting a date for their mass execution.

The state administrative court on Monday rejected an appeal for the Bali Nine pair, upholding its earlier decision that presidential clemency isn't within its jurisdiction.

Lawyers for the men now plan to challenge the constitutional court to outline the president's obligations in clemency.

They argue the executions should be stayed pending the new action, to be filed this week.

But Mr Prasetyo says he won't wait for another court challenge.

"No, there shall be no more (delays)," he said after Monday's verdict.

"This is proof of their tendency to delay ... it's like toying with law." The attorney-general argued clemency was a matter of presidential prerogative only.

"For me it's enough. It's finished. It's finished," he said.

The Australians' lawyers have argued that President Joko Widodo erred by rejecting their clemency on the basis they were drug offenders, without considering their rehabilitation.

Lawyer Leonard Arpan said their next move was planned in conjunction with human rights groups.

"After 10 years, this has been a successful rehabilitation program and it's very regretful if in the end, they must die," he told reporters after the verdict.

"It's our spirit to keep on fighting through any available avenues."

The federal government has also asked that new legal options be allowed to run their course.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the government was disappointed by the court verdict.

"Both men have undergone extensive rehabilitation and I will continue to make representations to my counterpart, just as Australia will continue to use all diplomatic options to seek a stay of execution," Ms Bishop said in a statement.

"Again, the Australian government respectfully requests the president to review their pleas for clemency."

It's believed the constitutional review request on clemency would be the first of its kind.

The administrative court action was also unusual, having only been attempted once before and lost - a precedent raised in the judges' reasoning on Monday.

The administrative court had rejected the Bali Nine pair's challenge in February, determining the decrees by Mr Joko were not within its jurisdiction.

Chan and Sukumaran await execution in semi-isolation conditions on Nusakambangan, a penal island in Central Java.


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Source: AAP


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