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| Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran face the firing squad because of the AFP's incompetence. |
They had been tipped off that the Bali Nine would be importing large quantities of illegal drugs into Australia.
Instead of intercepting the gang at the Australian border, they improperly alerted their Indonesian counterparts knowing full well the gang members would face the death penalty in Indonesia - something which could not happen under Australian law.
The AFP were happy to circumvent Australian law in order to ensure that as many members of the Bali Nine would die at the hands of their official Indonesian executioners.
Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of capital punishment, the AFP set themselves up a judge, jury and executioner (by proxy) of the Bali Nine.
Drug dealers deserve the full force of the law but the AFP could have demanded massive jail sentences in Australia for these drug runners instead of conniving to ensure they face the firing squad on a remote Indonesian island.
Drug dealers deserve the full force of the law but the AFP could have demanded massive jail sentences in Australia for these drug runners instead of conniving to ensure they face the firing squad on a remote Indonesian island.
The day Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran meet their Maker is the day the AFP should hang its collective heads in shame for allowing such an outrageous sequence of events to occur.
No one can ever have any faith in the Australian Federal Police again until the heads roll of those responsible for this despicable state of affairs.
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| PM Tony Abbott |
The Courier-Mail reports:
Tony Abbott has issued a plea to Indonesia to spare the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop says the federal government continues to lobby Indonesian authorities "at the highest levels" as Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran await the death penalty in Bali.
CHAN, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, could be spending their last days in Kerobokan jail, where they have spent the past 10 years after their attempt to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.Authorities have given permission for them to be moved to prison island Nusakambangan, on a date to be determined, where they are expected to be executed.
Both coalition and Labor politicians in Australia have repeatedly urged President Joko Widodo to save the men from execution.
But President Joko has given a defiant vow this week not to succumb to outside pressure.
On Saturday, Ms Bishop said representations on behalf of the pair continued to be made.
"We continue to make representations. Our ambassador is in Jakarta ... and we have a number of officials making representations at the highest levels," she told ABC television.
She said she still hoped that Chan and Sukumaran would be spared, and the Australian government was "considering a number of options should the executions proceed".
She said no decisions had been taken on what those options would comprise.
Ms Bishop also said she was not urging Australian tourists to boycott Indonesia over the issue.
"I knew that there was very deep concern in the Australian public about the likely executions of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan, and that Australians will make their own decisions as to whether they want to travel to a country that does have the death penalty," Ms Bishop told Macquarie Radio.
The comments come amid reports the pair could be executed by firing squad in the coming week, with Australian embassy officials in Jakarta called to a meeting with the Indonesian ministry of foreign affairs on Monday.
This is part of a process that normally precedes the execution of foreign nationals.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Saturday called on Indonesia to be "responsive" to last-minute pleas to spare the Bali Nine ringleaders.
"My plea even at this late stage is for Indonesia to be as responsive to us as it expects other countries to be to them when they plead for the life of their citizens," Mr Abbott said in Sydney.
Besides more than 55 ministerial and prime ministerial representations, Australian officials and members of the business community say they have made "discreet overtures to their influential Indonesian contacts" in a bid to save the convicted drug smugglers.
Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran are challenging Mr Joko's blanket denial of clemency for all drug offenders sentenced to death.
