SYDNEY: Perdana Menteri Australia Tony Abbott terus merayu pada Indonesia agar memberi perhatian terhadap permintaan bagi membebaskan dua rakyatnya yang terlibat kes penyeludupan dadah daripada dijatuhkan hukuman mati. Abbott pada masa yang sama beri amaran bahawa Canberra bakal bertindak sesuatu bagi menunjukkan ‘rasa tidak senang’ sekiranya hukuman itu diteruskan juga. Andrew Chan, 31, dan Myuran Sukumaran, 33, berdepan hukuman mati oleh skuad penembak selepas didapati bersalah cuba menyeludup heroin dari Bali ke Australia pada tahun 2005.
“Jutaan warga Australia sangat kecewa tentang nasib dua individu tersebut di Indonesia. Saya merayu, walaupun dalam peringkat akhir ini, agar Indonesia memberi maklum balas kepada kami sama seperti mereka mahukan negara lain mendengar rayuan mereka berkaitan hukuman mati warga Indonesia di luar negara,” ujar Abbot. Media Australia melaporkan bahawa terdapat 360 warga Indonesia menanti hukuman mati di negara-negara seperti Malaysia, Singapura, China, Saudi Arabia dan Qatar. Sejumlah 230 daripada jumlah itu adalah berkaitan dengan pendakwaan kes dadah. Abbot mengungkit bahawa Australia selama ini sentiasa membantu Indonesia ketika berdepan masalah, khususnya ketika bencana tsunami Asia paa tahun 2004.
“Kami mengecam hukuman mati. Kami anggap itu tidak bertamadun,” kata Abbot kepada media negaranya. Menteri Luar Australia Julie Bishop telah memberi amaran kepada Jakarta agar tidak memandang rendah terhadap kuasa emosi awam terhadap dua warganya yang sedang menanti hukuman tersebut. Katanya, para pelancong akan memboikot Indonesia, khususnya Bali yang merupakan persinggahan popular dalam kalangan warga Australia. Chan dan Sukumaran gagal mendapat pengampunan daripada Presiden Indonesia, Joko Widodo kerana pemimpin tersebut merupakan penyokong kuat ke atas hukuman mati bagi pesalah melibatkan kes dadah.
Sewaktu melawat kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia di Kuala Lumpur dalam rangka kunjungan perdana ke Malaysia awal Februari lalu, Joko Widodo mengulang ikrar tersebut di hadapan ratusan rakyatnya. “Indonesia sedang dalam darurat dadah. Setiap tahun sejumlah 18,000 rakyat kita mati akibat najis tersebut. Itu belum lagi termasuk 4.2 juta yang sedang menjalani rawatan pemulihan dan 1.2 juta lagi yang tidak dapat dipulihkan. “Maka, saya kental dengan pendirian saya untuk tidak langsung memberi pengampunan kepada mana-mana pesalah kes dadah,” katanya yang menerima tepukan dan sorakan gemuruh tanda sokongan terhadap keputusan beliau.
English:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has stepped up calls for Indonesia to show mercy to the two Australians facing execution in Bali for drug smuggling.
Indonesian prison and security authorities were set to make preparations yesterday for the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but the meeting did not go ahead.
Mr Abbott has again urged for clemency for the pair, saying Australia expects Indonesia to respond to its request the same way Indonesia expects other countries to respond to its own requests.
Australia has been reluctant to recall its Ambassador because it wants to keep communication channels open.
But Mr Abbott said the Government would find ways of making its displeasure known if the executions go ahead.
He also warned that Australians would be angry considering the aid money given to Indonesia following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
Permission was granted on Thursday for Chan and Sukumaran to be transferred from Kerobokan prison in preparation for the executions, but today the Australian lawyer for the pair said he had no information about the transfer.
"There's been a lot of talk in the media about whether they have to move or not. I have no knowledge of that," Julian McMahon said from outside Kerobokan. "In the meantime, we have filed our court hearing in Jakarta in the Administrative Court and we expect that case to follow the usual course, so that is what our focus is on at the moment."
The Prime Minister's comments follow Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's suggestion that Australian holidaymakers could boycott Bali."I've been overwhelmed with emails and text messages. I know that people have been staging vigils and rallies," she told Fairfax Radio yesterday.
"I hope that the Indonesian government doesn't underestimate the Australian public's opinion on this."
Ms Bishop and her opposition counterpart Tanya Plibersek both made impassioned pleas for Chan and Sukumaran's lives in Parliament on Thursday.
Ms Bishop told Parliament that Australia's efforts to seek a reprieve for Bali Nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were no different to Indonesia's attempts to save the lives of its own citizens sentenced to death in overseas courts.
Ms Plibersek, the deputy Labor leader, drew on her personal experiences to bolster Australia's argument against their execution.
Her speech touched on the death of her brother in Papua New Guinea in 1997 and her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter's rehabilitation after he served time in jail for drug dealing.
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