Bali Nine clemency case adjourned

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's lawyers may not be able to challenge the decision to deny them clemency, but activists are picking up the baton.

Indonesian groups challenging their president's decision to deny clemency to death row drug offenders, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, have been given 14 days to satisfy the constitutional court their case should proceed.

Indonesian lawyers for the pair launched the action before their executions alongside six other drug offenders last month.

After a preliminary hearing in Jakarta on Wednesday, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said their power of attorney ended with the men's deaths.

Unless the lawyers can find a new client, three human rights groups will take the challenge forward.

"Our position now is legally difficult, even though we said to the judges that we have strong interest in the next clemency requests being ... accepted or rejected with strong reason," he told reporters.

Mr Lubis argues President Joko Widodo committed a breach of human rights by denying the individuals clemency without examining their appeals case-by-case.

"We asked for clemency to be studied individually, not collectively," he said.

They had also pleaded for the executions of Chan and Sukumaran to be halted pending the outcome of this case, which the attorney-general dismissed as time wasting.

Judges gave the petitioners - rights groups Kontras, Imparsial and Inisiator Muda - until June 3 to better demonstrate how their constitutional rights had been diminished.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world