Australia offers Indonesia prisoner swap to save nationals
Australia has proposed an offer to swap prisoners with Indonesia in a last-ditch attempt to save the lives of the two convicted Australian nationals on death row in the Nusakambangan Island of the Southeast Asian state.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Thursday that she had offered the deal during a phone conversation with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.
“I didn’t go into any specific detail but I did note there were Australian prisoners in Jakarta and there were Indonesian prisoners in Australia and that we should explore some opportunity, a prison swap, a transfer, whether that could be done under Indonesian law,” Bishop said.
On Wednesday, the Australian nationals were transferred to Nusakambangan Island, home to several high-security prisons, where they are expected to face the firing squad.
Bishop further said that Marsudi “undertook to pass on my comments to the [Indonesian] president.”
Australian nationals 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 two are the only members of the dismantled Bali Nine drug-smuggling ring on death row. The other Bali Nine members were sentenced to life or 20 years in prison.
According to Australian media, there are speculations that the deal could involve three Indonesians in Australian custody since 1998 on charges of involvement in drug trafficking.
The prisoners, identified as Kristito Mandagi, Saud Siregar and Ismunandar, were respectively the captain, chief officer and engineer of a boat carrying 390 kilograms (860 pounds) of heroin, which was seized near Port Macquarie, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Sydney.
Indonesian response
Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir reacted to the Australian swap offer by saying, “Basically, to our understanding, in our legal system, we do not have such a mechanism so I don’t know how this would pan out.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo had earlier dismissed their appeal for presidential clemency.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repeatedly called on Jakarta not to go ahead with the executions, warning of a tough diplomatic response if it does.
More than 138 people are on death row in Indonesia mostly for drug crimes. Drug offenders face harsh punishments, including the death penalty, in the country. About a third of the convicted people are foreigners.
HJM/HJL/HMV
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