KEEP
HOPE ALIVE – LATEST NEWS
Convicted
drug smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been transferred
from Kerobokan prison under heavy military guard as they begin their
journey to Nusakambangan island, the place where they are to be executed by
firing squad.
Regardless
of Andrew’s and Myuran’s remarkable transformation and rehabilitation and their
support of and assistance to other prisoners, since their imprisonment over nine
years ago, all pleas for clemency have been rejected by the Indonesian President,
Joko Widodo.
It
seems that only a miracle can save the lives of these young men. Or a change of
mind by the Indonesian President.
Tony Abbott,
Australia’s Prime Minister, responding to the news of their transfer, today said,
"The point that I've
been making again and again is that, yes, these two men have done a terrible
thing, but they've now been in jail for about a decade, and in that time they
have been well and truly rehabilitated. So as things stand today, these two men
are actually allies of the Indonesian government in its fight against drug
crime. I know that Indonesia has a ... horrible, horrible drug problem, and I
absolutely appreciate and accept Indonesia's desire to fight very hard indeed
against their drug menace, but these two Australians are actually assets in the
fight against drugs and that's why I think these executions make no sense
whatsoever."
Earlier this morning Foreign Affair's Minister Julie Bishop said the
news of Chan and Sukumaran's imminent transfer was devastating.
"I will not give up hope, I will continue to make representations,
I will do whatever I can to seek a change of heart, a change of mind. I've been
pleading with the [Indonesian] foreign minister that she tell the president
that this is a circumstance where he can show great strength, by showing mercy
and forgiveness for these two young men who have been rehabilitated in their
prison system in the most remarkable way."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said people should not give up despite
the transfer of the men.
"We know that the Indonesian people are generous and we appeal to
that generosity," he said. "We do not believe that anything is solved
by executing these two young men who by all accounts have more than
rehabilitated themselves."
It is not too late for Joko Widodo to acknowledge the transformation and
rehabilitation of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran by granting them clemency
and letting them live.
Such an act of mercy would be a shining example to Indonesians and to
the world that he is a leader of substance and compassion.
We can now only pray that he has the wisdom to change his mind.
http://djdelene.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.theage.com.au/world/bali-nine-prisoners-transferred-from-kerobokan-to-execution-island-under-heavy-military-guard-20150303-13uc9e.html
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