Bali Nine Executions: Execution Of Chan, Sukumaran, Others Now Only Hours Away

Update as of 6:25 a.m. EDT: Nine people sentenced to death for drug trafficking said their final goodbyes to their families on Tuesday as Jakarta ordered their mass execution by firing squad in the next few hours, including the Bali Nine duo whose sentencing has led to international condemnation, according to Reuters.

"I won't see him again," Raji Sukumaran, mother of Myuran Sukumaran, one of the Australian nationals who led the drug smuggling ring, told reporters, according to Reuters. "They're going to take him at midnight and shoot him. I'm asking the government not to kill him. Please don't kill him today."

Indonesian authorities reportedly declined to confirm the specific timing of the execution, which is set to take place at a nearby clearing in a forest.

Update as of 5:35 a.m. EDT: Indonesian officials have said that Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be executed at midnight, according to local media reports Tuesday.

Original story:

The families of an Australian pair scheduled for execution in Indonesia arrived to visit them on Tuesday morning after the condemned men’s appeals for clemency failed. Indonesian authorities have not yet confirmed the timing of the executions, but it could take place as early as Tuesday night, the BBC reported.

The families, who were reportedly notified on Saturday, will have until afternoon to say their final goodbyes. Under Indonesia's laws, criminals must be given 72 hours notice before execution.

Ambulances containing nine coffins were dispatched to the prison where Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring, will be executed, along with seven others, the Guardian reported.

As the families walked to the dock to take a boat to the island prison of Nusakambangan, police deployed dogs to break up the media frenzy surrounding the families. At least one journalist was bitten on the leg in the ensuing scuffle, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Chan and Sukumaran had asked for two specific Christian pastors to accompany them to the point of their execution, but Indonesian authorities have said that they will appoint their own religious counselors instead. In an SMS, Michael Chan, brother of Andrew Chan, told Fairfax Media: “Last bit of dignity denied,” according to the Herald.

The prisoners are set to be executed by a firing squad. The executions of the Bali Nine duo have been strongly condemned by the Australian government, which has repeatedly sought clemency for the two men, proposed a prisoner swap, and even offered to cover the costs of their detention, all of which were denied. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would keep pressing Jakarta to release the prisoners until they were alive.

“While they are still alive, there is still hope and I will continue to advocate all throughout today. We will continue because both men have been rehabilitated. Nothing will be achieved and much will be lost if these executions go ahead,” she said, the Associated Press reported.

The duo’s families and international groups have pointed to the pair’s rehabilitation in prison as reason enough for them to be granted clemency by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has heavily cracked down on drug smuggling in the country. "We want to send a strong message to drug smugglers that Indonesia is firm and serious in tackling the drug problem, and one of the consequences is execution if the court sentences them to death," Widodo told Al Jazeera in March.

Protests and vigils are being held in Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong, according to the Guardian.