Tony Abbott says it is his “profound hope” that convicted drug smuggler Myuran Sukumaran avoids the death penalty in Indonesia, but that he will not jeopardise the relationship with Jakarta to press for his release.
Indonesian authorities have rejected Sukumaran’s plea for clemency, and he remains on death row for his part in a plot to smuggle 8kg of heroin as part of the so-called Bali Nine.
“My profound hope is that these executions will not go ahead,” the prime minister said.
“What I’m not going to do, though, is jeopardise the relationship with Indonesia. That would be foolish to jeopardise the relationship with Indonesia and we believe that we can make the strongest possible representations on behalf of our citizens on death row in Indonesia while at the same time preserving a strong and constructive relationship,” he said.
The minister for foreign affairs, Julie Bishop, said negotiations were continuing with Jakarta to try to stop members of the Bali Nine being put to death.
“We will continue to make representations at the highest level and we will not rest until we have secured that. But I stress again, he is subject to the laws of a sovereign independent nation. We will do what we can as a government but there are limits to it,” Bishop told reporters on Thursday.
Labor has rejected the calls for sanctions against Indonesia, and joined the government in pushing for a diplomatic outcome.
“There is bipartisan opposition to the death penalty and there are processes that are followed no matter who is in government, in dealing with these issues government-to-government,” the acting opposition leader, Tony Burke, said.
“From everything that I’ve seen so far, the federal government is acting according to those protocols that have been in place for a long time,” he said.
Bishop urged Australians to respect local laws of the countries they are visiting.
“We understand that Indonesia’s laws have the death penalty attached to some drug offences. And we urge anyone travelling overseas, particularly to Indonesia and countries that have made it quite clear that they have on their statute books the death penalty for certain drug-related offences, to abide by the laws of those countries,” she said.
“There is a limit to what the Australian government can do once a person is caught up in the legal system of another country.”
Sukumaran and fellow Bali Nine member Andrew Chan are expected to seek a last-ditch attempt for clemency from Indonesian president Joko Widodo.
They had sought a pardon from previous president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who did not act on the request before leaving office in October.
