Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 8, 2006 1:10:06 GMT -5
Bali execution date could be sooner than first thought, Lasry warns
An Australian lawyer now acting for 2 of the condemned Bali 9 says he
fears their execution dates might be sooner than first thought.
6 of the Bali 9 are facing the death sentence for drug trafficking, after
their punishments were upgraded yesterday.
Lex Lasry QC acted for Australian Van Nguyen, who was hanged in Singapore
in December last year on drugs charges.
Mr Lasry has spent the day in Jakarta, looking at legal options to spare
the men's lives.
He told the ABC's PM many think the execution will be at least 2 years
away.
But he fears it could be sooner than that.
"The thing that worries me about it is that the Supreme Court result came
a lot quicker than a lot of people expected," he said.
"I'm not confident that there's 2 years to go, I think it might well be
less time than that and I think it's therefore important that we do the
things we have to do reasonably quickly."
Mr Lasry says he will consult local experts to see whether he has a case
for a constitutional challenge.
"Under the Indonesian constitution there seems to be an absolute right to
life and there's obviously an inconsistency between that and the
imposition of a death penalty," he said.
"This point hasn't been argued before the constitutional court. As we
understand it the constitutional court is a relatively new institution."
(source: ABC. net)
An Australian lawyer now acting for 2 of the condemned Bali 9 says he
fears their execution dates might be sooner than first thought.
6 of the Bali 9 are facing the death sentence for drug trafficking, after
their punishments were upgraded yesterday.
Lex Lasry QC acted for Australian Van Nguyen, who was hanged in Singapore
in December last year on drugs charges.
Mr Lasry has spent the day in Jakarta, looking at legal options to spare
the men's lives.
He told the ABC's PM many think the execution will be at least 2 years
away.
But he fears it could be sooner than that.
"The thing that worries me about it is that the Supreme Court result came
a lot quicker than a lot of people expected," he said.
"I'm not confident that there's 2 years to go, I think it might well be
less time than that and I think it's therefore important that we do the
things we have to do reasonably quickly."
Mr Lasry says he will consult local experts to see whether he has a case
for a constitutional challenge.
"Under the Indonesian constitution there seems to be an absolute right to
life and there's obviously an inconsistency between that and the
imposition of a death penalty," he said.
"This point hasn't been argued before the constitutional court. As we
understand it the constitutional court is a relatively new institution."
(source: ABC. net)