Bali Nine Update: Andrew Chan Marries Fiancée, Impending Execution Could Be Delayed
With his execution looming in two days, "Bali Nine" member Andrew Chan married his fiancée on death row in Indonesia. The 31-year-old Australian's execution by firing squad is currently scheduled for the early morning hours Wednesday, but an appeal might bring Chan and a fellow Australian member of the Bali Nine -- a group of convicted heroin smugglers -- new hope.
A lawyer for Australian death row inmates Chan and Myuran Sukumaran said a hearing has been scheduled for an appeal to hear their case at the Indonesian Constitutional Court of Appeals on May 12, according to the Independent. While that may bring hope of a delay, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the appeal date won't necessarily stop the execution. The hearing could be posthumous.
The two Australians were set to be killed by a firing squad early Wednesday morning, according to a local undertaker who was asked to prepare crosses with the two men's names and dates of death, reported the Independent.
In perhaps his final hours on death row, Chan married fiancée Feby Herewila, according to his brother, Michael.
"Feby and Andrew had a bit of a celebration this evening," he said, according to the Australian. "It was celebrated with some family and close friends. We'd just like to celebrate that with him tomorrow as well, so hopefully the president will still show some compassion, some mercy so that these two young people can carry on with their lives. It's in the president's hands."
The president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has taken a hard line on drug smuggling. "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," he told Al Jazeera in March.
The Australian government has fought to have the lives of Chan and Sukumaran spared, with the foreign minister and prime minister both making pleas to the Indonesian leadership.
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