Sliver of hope for Bali Nine duo

Indonesia has reportedly advised Tony Abbott that nothing can be done to save two Australians on death row.

AUTHORITIES have given a sliver of hope to the condemned Bali Nine duo facing execution, saying they are yet to decide if their latest appeal bid will be accepted by the courts.

Denpasar District Court chief, Judge Sugeng Riyono, said Tuesday that he was still studying the Bali Nine case and all regulations and previous court decisions before making an announcement.

The Indonesian Attorney General has previously said that the appeal would not be accepted and that it would not halt their impeding execution because they are only entitled to one judicial review and they had already exhausted this.

However, Mr Riyono did not throw out the judicial review bid yesterday as many observers had expected would happen.

"There is no difficulty. We just have to look at all the regulations, including the Constitutional Court decision, the Supreme Court decree as well as the joint decision that was made in January," he said.

Hope ... Authorities have given Bali death row duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran a sliver of hope. Picture: Supplied Source: The Advertiser

Their Australian lawyer, Melbourne barrister Julian McMahon, said the pair's judicial review application, known as a PK, was "meritorious".

Mr McMahon said the Attorney General's statements, that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are in the next batch of prisoners to be executed, was a "disturbing comment" given his clients are now before the courts.

"Another matter which is obviously disturbing is the unseemly and extraordinary haste which is now somehow driving this idea that people need to be executed in batches," Mr McMahon said.

"For my clients it is so unfair that they are being lumped together with other prisoners who continue to commit crimes while in prison. There is overwhelming evidence that my clients, during years of hard work and rehabilitation, helped many other prisoners, to train them, to get them skills, to counsel them.

"Anyone who studies the facts in the case of Sukumaran and Chan would immediately know they should not be treated as if they are merely criminals. In fact because of the Indonesian penal system they have become reformed prisoners and valuable contributors helping Indonesia. It simply makes no sense now to kill them."

Support ... Andrew Chan's family visit him in Kerobokan Jail in Bali. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

As their fate remains uncertain, the two men tried yesterday to keep up their spirits and continue with their jail activities.

Australian artists Matt Sleeth and Ben Quilty both spent the day in the jail, running art workshops.

Mr Sleeth said that despite Sukumaran's dire position he was trying to stay focused on his art and was planning the future, including an exhibition of his works planned for next month in the Netherlands.

"It would be dishonest to say that he was himself and everything is fine. He doesn't want to die," Mr Sleeth said.

Australian artists Ben Quilty and Matt Sleeth say that Myuran Sukumaran is staying positive and preparing for his mart show next month. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: News Corp Australia

Sukumaran has been working on portraits of his family who are in Bali with him.

"It was very moving to watch them all together. Yesterday (Monday) was actually quite uplifting and quite positive," Mr Sleeth said.

He said that Sukumaran had progressed as an artist and was determined to keep working on bettering himself and his skills.

"This is a genuine credit to the Indonesian authorities and it would be wonderful to see them celebrate it rather than end it," he said of his hopes that he Government would take Sukumaran's rehabilitation into account and grant him and Chan a reprieve.

Mr Sleeth said that Sukumaran was one of the best students he had seen and that despite everything that is happening his thirst for knowledge and his passion was ongoing.

Quilty, who has mentored Sukumaran and become a confidante, recently organised a concert and vigil in Sydney for the Bali Nine and rallied a group of artists and celebrities to make a moving video, I stand for Mercy.

Chan's mother Helen visited again yesterday. Older brother Michael, who has been in Bali for the past week, has travelled back to Australia. But another sibling remains in Bali.

Mr Prasetyo reiterated this week that the two Australians are among the next group of drug traffickers to be executed by firing squad but he has yet to give a date.

Loyalty ... Andrew Chan's mother Helen (right) with Australian Consul in Bali, Majell Hind, arrive at Kerobokan Jail. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

There are 11 death row prisoners — eight drug traffickers and three murderers — who have now lost all legal avenues and been denied clemency, who are slated for execution. It is also not certain how many of the 11 would be executed on the next occasion. They include citizens from Australia, the Philippines, France, Ghana, Brazil and Indonesia. Mr Prasetyo originally said the group also included someone from Cordova but it now suggested that person is from Nigeria.

Six drug traffickers — including five foreigners — were executed by firing squad in the early hours of January 18 this year.

It was the first executions in more than a year in Indonesia and brought international condemnation. Brazil and the Netherlands, who each had a citizen executed, withdrew their Ambassadors in protest.

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