Tony Abbott has signalled there would be a backlash if Indonesia executes two Australians convicted of drug smuggling, saying his government would “find ways to make our displeasure felt”.



As Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran await on the announcement of their execution date, the prime minister said on Sunday that Australians were “sickened by what might be about to take place” and that he hoped Indonesia would realise “this is not going to do its standing any good”.

“I am very conscious of the strong representation Indonesia makes when its own citizens are on death row … If it’s right of Indonesia to have that expectation from others, it’s right for others to have that expectation of Indonesia,” he said.

Asked whether Australian would consider withdrawing its ambassador from Jakarta, as the Netherlands did after one of its nationals was executed in January, Abbott did not rule it out, saying the government would “certainly find ways to make our displeasure felt”.

“But at the moment our focus has to be on making what are admittedly 11th-hour pleas, but we are making them, we are making them because this shouldn’t be happening,” he said.

The first law officers of every Australian state and territory appealed on Friday to Indonesia’s attorney general, Muhammad Prasetyo, to spare the lives of the pair, writing in an open letter:

“Both appear to have reflected on the offences they committed, have embraced the opportunities provided to them by the authorities and have become different people to those who were arrested in 2005.

“In recognition of Indonesia’s success in rehabilitation we believe that it would be entirely appropriate for the sentences of Chan and Sukumaran to be commuted. We respectfully so request.”

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, has joined the calls for Indonesia to cancel the execution of nine people including Chan and Sukumaran.

Ban spoke with the Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, on Thursday “to express his concern at the recent application of capital punishment in Indonesia”, a UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.

“The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances,” Dujarric said. “The secretary general appeals to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offences not be carried out.”

Diplomats from Australia and six other countries with citizens on death row will meet with Indonesian officials on Monday to be told of official procedures for the executions.

The execution date would not be revealed at the meeting, an Indonesian official said, but there was discussion over granting 72 hours’ notice.

Reports this week suggested that Bali officials had granted permission to transfer Chan and Sukumaran out of Kerobokan jail to a prison island, believed to be Nusakambangan off the coast of central Java, where the execution by firing squad would take place.

Prasetyo said on Friday that the execution date for the men and five other death-row prisoners had not been set and may not happen in February, contrary to earlier statements.

The Mercy Campaign, which is pushing for the men to be shown clemency, will on Sunday hand a petition signed by more 150,000 Australians to the representatives of the Chan and Sukumaran families.