Australia vows tough response if Indonesia goes ahead with executions
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has warned Indonesia of a severe diplomatic response if Jakarta executes two convicted Australian drug smugglers.
"If these executions go ahead, and I hope they don't, we will certainly be finding ways to make out displeasure felt," Abbott told Channel Ten on Sunday.
He added that millions of Australians are "sickened" by the possible execution of the two citizens.
The Australian premier also lashed out at Indonesia for trying to save its own citizens on death row in other countries while rejecting pleas for clemency from Canberra.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year for trying to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian island of Bali into Australia. The pair are expected to face the firing squad before the end of the month.
Abbott, however, stressed that Australia would continue with “11th-hour” efforts to save the lives of its citizens.
This comes as the Indonesian administration has called on governments with citizens on death row to attend talks at the foreign ministry due on Monday.
Meanwhile, the families of Chan and Sukumaran have made emotional last-gasp pleas to Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Back in January, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in Indonesia after the Southeast Asian country brushed aside their appeals for clemency and executed their citizens over drugs offenses.
More than 138 people are on death row in Indonesia mostly for drug crimes. Drug offenders face harsh punishments including death penalty in the country. About a third of the convicted people are foreigners.
SSM/MFB/HMV
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