INDONESIAN authorities are standing by claims Australian diplomats cautioned them about the political sensitivities of executing members of the Bali Nine in an election year.
Despite denials from Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean, Indonesian attorney-general’s office spokesman Didiek Darmanto said the report in Thursday’s Fairfax newspapers was correct.
“They admitted that for the upcoming election, the issue of the death sentences is a sensitive issue,” Mr Darmanto said.
Mr Darmanto said the issue was discussed during a “courtesy visit” by the embassy’s new political counsellor, Paul Griffiths.
“They didn’t ask for the death sentence execution to be postponed because of the election, but they just needed to understand the process,” Mr Darmanto said.
Nine Australians, known as the Bali Nine, were arrested at Denpasar airport in 2005 trying to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin back to Australia.
Three of them – Scott Rush, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – have been sentenced to death but plan to lodge their final appeals in the coming months.
Australia plans to seek clemency for the trio if those appeals fail.
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