SMH : Jakarta throws a lifeline to the Bali bombers

Jakarta throws a lifeline to the Bali bombers

Mark Forbes in Jakarta and Phillip Coorey | October 10, 2007

INDONESIA'S Attorney-General has backed away from supporting capital punishment and indicated the executions of the Bali bombers will be delayed.

Hendarman Supandji's comments in an interview with the Herald also offer hope for six Australian drug couriers on death row in Bali, but they came as Kevin Rudd was mired in a damaging crisis over a Labor frontbencher's declaration that the bombers' lives should be spared.

Opponents branded the Labor leader weak and insincere for reprimanding his foreign affairs spokesman, Robert McClelland, over a poorly timed speech articulating Labor's policy of universal opposition to capital punishment - including for the bombers, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Last night Mr Rudd would not guarantee Mr McClelland would retain his portfolio if Labor won the election, saying only he would "be part" of the frontbench team.

Friday will be fifth anniversary of the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people but Mr Supandji's remarks bring hope to six of the "Bali nine" on death row, several of whom have challenged the constitutionality of capital punishment.

A Constitutional Court ruling is imminent and Mr Supandji said the Government would implement its decision if it ruled against executions.

However, the possibility of other Australian prisoners, including Schapelle Corby, returning home to serve the rest of their sentences had receded because negotiations on a prisoner-exchange treaty had stalled, Mr Supandji said.

Abdul Rahman Saleh - who Mr Supandji replaced earlier this year - strongly advocated capital punishment before the Constitutional Court. Executing drug traffickers was "essential" to deter drug use, he said. But Mr Supandji said Mr Saleh's remarks were "the personal opinion of the former attorney-general. It depends on the community in Indonesia as a whole, because the legislation is the product of parliament.

"However, there is still controversy among the community about capital punishment. I leave it up to the people. If the Indonesian nation rejects it, as Attorney-General I have to follow it."

Internationally, nations were tending to abolish capital punishment and the issue needed to be carefully considered, he said.

The Constitutional Court would decide if its decision applied to people already sentenced or only future cases, Mr Supandji said. He dismissed calls to immediately execute the three convicted Bali bombers, Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron, before Friday's anniversary. First the trio must receive a copy of the rejection of their final appeal, then they would be asked if they would appeal for clemency. "This will prolong the process," Mr Supandji said.

On Monday night, Mr McClelland said if Australia were to lead a regional movement to abolish capital punishment, it must oppose capital punishment in all cases. He singled out for criticism John Howard's support for the execution of the Bali bombers, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, saying it undermined attempts to save Australians abroad from death row and persuade other nations to abolish executions.

As Bali victims and their families reacted angrily, Mr Rudd said Mr McClelland's speech was insensitive because of the approaching anniversary of the Bali attacks.

As well as berating his frontbencher, Mr Rudd blamed staff members, including his own, for not vetting the speech.

He rejected Mr McClelland's suggestion Australia form a coalition of like-minded nations to stamp out capital punishment in Asia, saying the United Nations was the preferred vehicle. Mr Rudd has long opposed capital punishment globally but was forced to talk tough to try to dampen the crisis.

"I believe that terrorists should rot in jail for the term of their natural lives and then one day be removed in a pine box," he said. The Government said he was weak because Mr McClelland was simply articulating Labor policy.

"Mr Rudd doesn't even have the courage or the decency to stand by his own policy [because] the so-called timing is inconvenient," the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, said. "How can you run a country like that. You need to be a person of principle."

The Prime Minister said Mr Rudd was blaming others when he should accept responsibility. Mr Howard also opposes the death penalty but said he would never argue for clemency for a terrorist. Trying to spare the bombers was "distasteful".

The Treasurer, Peter Costello, accused Labor of supporting the bombers. "Let's have some sympathy for the 88 [Australians] dead and their families rather than sympathy for those people who cruelly and cold-bloodedly decided to kill them for no reason other than they were Australians."

Mr Rudd rejected these assertions as "absolute nonsense" and "pre-election politics".

"No diplomatic intervention will ever be made by any government that I lead in support of any individual terrorist life," he said.

Mr Supandji said the three Bali bombers technically had no further right to appeal. He said they could attempt to have a district court reopen their cases and if it did "then we have to wait again". Lawyers for the men have indicated they would attempt to stretch out proceedings.

"I cannot give any kind of estimate about when the execution will take place, but you can see from the process that it will take longer," he said.