Yesterday Foreign Minister Julie Bishop moved a motion in parliament for a stay of execution for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two men on death row in Indonesia for a drug smuggling conviction handed down in 2005.
In a show of bipartisanship, the motion was seconded by deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek.
Both politicians gave emotional speeches urging their colleagues to pass the motion for a stay of execution.
Both Bishop and Plibersek reflected on the need for mercy and the importance of allowing Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves. They reflected on Australia’s history of bipartisan agreement on the barbarism of the death penalty and the need for Australia to now do everything in its power to convince the Indonesian government to reconsider its decision.
It seems unlikely to result in mercy. As parliament sat yesterday, the two men were given notice that they will be moved from the prison they have been held in to the location of their execution. They are expected to be among the next round of executions to occur in Indonesia.
“Colleagues, this motion goes to the heart of what we believe will be a grave injustice against two Australian citizens facing execution in Indonesia,” Bishop said to open the motion.
“Our shared hope is that the Indonesian government and the Indonesian people will show mercy to Andrew and Myuran.”
“The Government stands resolutely with both families.”
She asked her colleagues to put themselves in the shoes of Chan, Sukumaran and their families.
Bishop also acknowledged the severity of the crimes for which Chan and Sukumaran were convicted.
“We are not understating the gravity of the nature of these crimes,” she said.
“Without doubt, Andrew and Myuran need to pay for their crimes with lengthy jail sentences,” she said. “But they should not need to pay with their lives.”
Bishop said the utmost bipartisan lobbying efforts have been made in Indonesia and that the government has done everything in its power to ensure the men have mercy.
Bishop also said the rehabilitation of Chan and Sukumaran over the nine years since their death sentences were handed down in February 2006 is a model for what all criminal justice systems should strive for.
Plibersek followed by delivering anemotional speech about retribution, mercy and rehabilitation. Her speech was moving and deeply personal as she talked about two events in her own life that have given her a unique perspective on justice and redemption.
“I perhaps have a particular view on remorse and redemption because of experiences in my own life,” Ms Plibersek said.
She explained that she is grateful every day for Australia’s rehabilitative criminal justice system, because without it she would not have her husband or their three children.
“In 1988, my husband left prison after being charged and convicted of a similar crime to these young men.”
“And I imagined what would have happened if he had been caught in Thailand instead of in Australia where that crime was committed where he was coming back to Australia. I didn’t know him at the time, this was 30 years ago.”
“What would the world have missed out on – well they would have missed out on three beautiful children that we’ve had together. They would have missed out on a man who has spent the rest of hislife making amends for the crime that he committed.”
She explained that she also has a unique understanding of the opposite perspective on retribution and mercy.
In 1997, Plibersek’s brother was killed when trying to fight off an intruder in his apartment in Port Moresby.
“I know that if I had been the one making the decision about the punishment of the person who did that crime, I could not have thought of a punishment bad enough,” she said.
“That is why we don’t make punishment on the basis of how we feel, but on the basis of consistent, universally applied rules.”
Plibersek echoed Bishop’s argument that Chan and Sukumaran have shown their commitment to their own rehabilitation, and that they should be given a chance to give their renewed selves back to the Australian community.
The motion for a stay of execution for Chan and Sukumaran passed federal parliament early on Thursday evening.