Indonesia Court Rejects Appeal Death-Row Australians Lose Clemency

Two Australians facing a firing squad for drug smuggling have had their appeal for clemency rejected by an Indonesian court.

Andrew Chan, 31, was found guilty in 2006 along with Myuran Sukumaran, 33, of being the ringleaders of a gang which plotted to smuggle heroin out of the country. 

The pair had challenged the court's decision not to hear an appeal against an earlier decision by Indonesia's President Joko Widodo's to refuse them clemency.

The attorney general's office said that the ruling handed down by a court in Jakarta left him with no further legal avenues to avoid the death penalty.

Australia has been pursuing a campaign to save the men from a firing squad, stressing they have been rehabilitated while in prison.

The pair are among 10 drug convicts due to be executed at the prison island of Nusakambangan. Others in the group include citizens of France, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia.

Mr Widodo denied clemency to the convicts despite repeated pleas from Australia, Brazil and France.

Sukumaran and Chan had sought in February to challenge the president's blanket rejection, with their lawyers arguing that he did not give due consideration to each case.

But the administrative court originally dismissed their case on the grounds it did not have the legal authority to assess it.

The Attorney General is awaiting the outcome of legal appeals by three remaining death row inmates before setting a date for executions.

His office's spokesman has previously said the intention is for all the executions to be carried out together, but they could be conducted in batches.

Indonesia has harsh penalties for drug trafficking and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap.

Sukumaran and Chan were identified as leaders of a group of nine Australians arrested on the resort island of Bali in 2005 and convicted of attempting to smuggle some 8kg of heroin to Australia.