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Bishop still pushing to save condemned men

Mar 05, 2015
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (centre) with Greens leader Christine Milne (left) Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek (right) at a dawn candlelight vigil at Parliament House in Canberra, for Bali Nine ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (centre) with Greens leader Christine Milne (left) Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek (right) at a dawn candlelight vigil at Parliament House in Canberra, for Bali Nine ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed she proposed a prisoner swap agreement in an 11th-hour bid to save Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from the firing squad.

And Prime Minister Tony Abbott has put in a request for one “final call” with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to press him to change his mind.

News Corp Australia reported on Thursday that Bishop had “a very tense phone call” with her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in which she pleaded for the lives of the Bali Nine duo.

It says Bishop proposed a deal in which Indonesia would pause the execution of Chan and Sukumaran while the countries explored a potential prisoner swap arrangement.

Bishop confirmed she had talked to the Indonesian foreign minister about a prisoner swap, but would not provide any details of the proposal.

“We are seeking opportunities to explore every option that might be available to us, every avenue that might be available to save the lives of these two men,” she told reporters after a candlelight vigil in Canberra on Thursday morning.

“I’m waiting to hear back from the foreign minister. I spoke to her about it, and she undertook to provide that information to the president.”

Chan and Sukumaran on Wednesday spent their first night on Indonesia’s “death island” Nusakambangan, after being transferred from the Bali jail that has been their home for the past decade.

The pair do not know how long they will wait to face the firing squad, but Widodo has said they will not be executed this week.

Abbott told reporters he had requested a final call with Widodo to again push for the men be spared.

“I can’t guarantee that that request will be met,” he said after the vigil.

“We respect Indonesia and we honour the friendship that we have with Indonesia, but we stand up for our values and we stand up for our citizens, and these are Australian citizens in extremis.”

Bishop later questioned Indonesia’s show of force when transferring Chan and Sukumaran, with the pair handcuffed and loaded on armoured vehicles.

“I just cannot comprehend how it is that they could be transferred with so much military equipment and so much security,” Bishop told Sky News.

“They’ve never done anything that would suggest they are violent or that they would risk anybody else’s lives.”

Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has indicated Chan and Sukumaran will not be executed this week, but has again reiterated that the fate of the two men has already been decided.

In an interview with al-Jazeera, Widodo says he had examined the cases but that he must put Indonesia’s national interest first.

“I as the president have to follow the constitution which still allows executions and their verdicts have already been decided by the court.”

Widodo told the reporter off camera that there will be “no executions this week”.

Asked if he had considered the rehabilitation of the two men, the president said: “I think the decision was already taken by the court. We can’t discriminate between people from different countries.”

“One more time, I am looking at our national interest.”

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