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Execution delays ‘encouraging’

Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have welcomed indications Jakarta will respect the ongoing legal appeals of several of 10 prisoners Indonesia is preparing to execute.

The Bali Nine pair were on Wednesday moved from their Bali jail for execution on Central Java’s Nusakambangan.

Their wait for execution was expected to be so brief – a required minimum 72 hours – that they were allowed to take only a plastic bag each containing clothes and a bible.

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Now they could be there for days or weeks, as Indonesian authorities wait for several prisoners’ legal options to run their course.

Indonesia’s Attorney-General HM Prasetyo can’t confirm when the executions will take place or how many prisoners will meet the firing squad.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop has welcomed the news, saying she is hopeful “in my heart” that the development might reflect a change of mind by Indonesian authorities.

Lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran, Todung Mulya Lubis, also welcomed the news.

“I’m pleased to hear it, so let’s wait for the legal processes, that’s how it should be,” he said.

Mr Lubis has challenged the clemency rejection for Chan and Sukumaran, arguing President Joko Widodo didn’t follow due process when he didn’t assess their circumstances.

The administrative court threw out the challenge and he’s now appealing, with a date set for the same Jakarta court for Thursday.

The lawyers are also pursuing a complaint in the judicial commission after a former lawyer for Chan and Sukumaran alleged interference in the first trial that ended with them sentenced to death.

Chan and Sukumaran provided a statement about the cash-for-leniency claim, but the ex-lawyer himself has yet to detail his recollections. The commission is considering the case.

Mr Prasetyo’s view of the ongoing legal processes has shifted considerably in the past week.

On Monday he told reporters: “If there’s already clemency (rejected), there should be no more other legal challenges submitted.”

On Friday his spokesman said: “We want to respect the ongoing legal process.”

It remains an anxious time for Chan and Sukumaran’s Sydney families, who remain in Cilacap, the departure point for Nusakambangan, and have yet to see the men.

Their Melbourne barrister Julian McMahon, Australia’s consul-general Majell Hind and other lawyers visited the men on Saturday, but families must wait until regular visiting hours on Monday.

PRISONERS INDONESIA IS PREPARING TO EXECUTE, AND THEIR LEGAL APPEALS:

– Andrew Chan (Australia) and Myuran Sukumaran (Australia) are appealing the administrative court’s decision to reject their challenge of the clemency rejections with a hearing in Jakarta on Thursday

– Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso (Philippines) has applied for a second judicial review. Hearings took place in Jogjakarta this week and the Supreme Court is now considering her case

– Serge Areski Atlaoui (France) has applied for first judicial review, with a hearing on Wednesday in Tangerang, near Jakarta

– Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigeria) is challenging his clemency rejection in the administrative court, with a hearing on Monday in Jakarta

– Silvester Obiekwe (Nigeria) is also challenging his clemency rejection in the administrative court on similar grounds

– Zainal Abidin (Indonesia) has been waiting years for the court’s answer on his judicial review, according to his family.

THE OTHERS:

– Rodrigo Gularte (Brazil) According to the attorney-general’s spokesman, has had a second opinion on his mental health, but the report has not returned

– Okwudili Ayotanze (Nigeria) – Martin Anderson alias Belo (Ghana)

– AAP

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