Bali Nine duo beg for their lives

Indonesia has rejected application for judicial review into the cases of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Begging to be spared ... Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran the ringleaders of the "Bali Nine" drug ring pictured in 2006. Picture: AFP/ Jewel Samad Source: AFP

DEVASTATED Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have written an open letter to the Indonesian Government begging for the chance to continue helping the community.

"We beg for moratorium, so we can have chance to serve to Indonesian community and bring more benefit on the rehabilitation process in prison. We believe in Indonesia's legal system that bring justice and humanity," the letter says.

The letter, signed by the two Sydney men on death row and released by friend Matius Arif, came a day after a Bali court rejected their application for a last ditch legal appeal against the death penalty.

Indonesian Attorney General, HM Prasetyo, said the timing for the next execution had yet to be decided.

Asked if it could be this month, he replied: "Could be yes, could be no."

Spare us ... an open letter from Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to the government of Indonesia. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Chan and Sukumaran's lawyers have vowed the fight to save them from the chilling spectre of the firing squad is not over and they are considering further legal avenues.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Australian Government was leaving no stone unturned in its bid to save the two men but would not be engaging in "last minute megaphone democracy".

"I just want to assure people that the Australian government has left no stone unturned to try to ensure that these two Australians on death row have their sentences commuted — we've left no stone unturned," he said.

LOYAL: Family members visit Bali Nine duo at Kerobokan prison

BALI NINE: Chan and Sukumaran's judicial review appeal rejected

EXECUTIONS: Does the death penalty stop crime?

Mr Prasetyo seemed to suggest that the executions would not be held until the clemency plea of a Nigerian man on death row and two others had been rejected.

Silvester Obiekwe, was sentenced to death in 2004 and subsequently found several times to be running the drug trade from his prison cell at Nusa Kambangan, most lately last month.

"I hope the (rejection) letter for Silvester will also issued soon, so we can go to the next step", Mr Prasetyo said.

Asked who was else was included, besides Silvester, Mr Prasetyo said he "forgot" the names, but it was more than three.

"But they are foreigners. There is Nigerian, Brazilian and British."

Devastated ... Myuran Sukumaran's mother Raji, with her son Chintu, is struggling to cope. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Mr Prasetyo's suggestion that British nationals are also now included is highly unusual and left many scratching their heads last night.

There are two Brits on death row in Indonesia but neither has yet even lodged or had a judicial review of their cases, as they are entitled under the law, and could not yet be executed.

"We are still looking for the right time. This is not a simple thing, as this is related with life. We will continue. This is not an encouraging work, not fun, but we have to do this. The court decisions that are final and bidding should be implemented," he said.

And he reiterated earlier comments that many considerations, including inclement weather, had to be taken into account.

Nusa Kambangan island, off the coast of Central Java, which houses six prisons, remained the "ideal" place for the executions, he said.

Bali Nine ... Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are awaiting execution for their role in 2005 drug bust. Picture: Supplied Source: News Corp Australia

Former prisoners, whose lives were transformed by Chan and Sukumaran in the jail, have come out in strident defence of the two men who have set up and run a series of rehabilitation programs behind the bars of Kerobokan jail.

One of them is Xander Loots, who first was sent to Kerobokan jail as a 17-year-old on a six-month sentence for drug possession charges in 2009 and was put in with the adult prisoners, including terrorists, rapists and murderers.

Mr Loots has written to the Indonesian President, Joko Widodo.

In the letter, he tells how Chan and Sukumaran came to him, after hearing that a minor was in the jail, and helped him to move to a block with other foreign prisoners. He ended up sharing a cell with Chan and the two Australians often shared food with him when he didn't have enough to eat.

"I have always been amazed at how the two of them carry themselves in the face of execution. In their short lives Andrew and Mayu have contemplated their actions more than most people can say of themselves," Xander writes in the letter.

He tells that after his release, in 2010, he went back to school and got a 98 per cent grade average, something he never would have achieved without the influence of the two Australians.

Family gather ... Andrew Chan's mother Helen visits him in Kerobokan Jail. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Tense times ... Andrew Chan's sister spends time with him in jail. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

"I have witnessed them rehabilitate themselves and with every passing year they accomplish more and grow into more beautiful people. They have influenced me to do the same. They have changed the lives of many prisoners through their programs and continue to help rehabilitating prisoners by offering education and guidance.

"They are changing lives and helping people to recover from a life of drugs. A legal system should not employ a penalty of retribution … The death penalty has no place in the 21st Century."

The letter comes as the Indonesian Government itself prepares to legislate to allow prisoners more than one judicial review. They currently allow only one case review, something which has hampered Chan and Sukumaran's chances of getting a court hearing because they have already lost one judicial review.

Their Indonesian lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said: "We will continue trying to save them by conducting other legal attempts to save them."

Lending support ... Australian artists Ben Quilty and Matthew Sleeth visit Kerobokan Jail to see Bali Nine ringleader Myuran Sukumaran. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Sukumaran's devastated family visited him yesterday. Visibly shaken, mum Raji was supported into the jail by Sukumaran's brother Chinthu and other family members. Chan's mother Helen is also in Bali, along with a sister and other family members, who were at the jail yesterday as well.

In releasing the letter from the condemned men, Mr Arif, said that Chan and Sukumaran would bring community benefits to Indonesia if they were allowed to continue living and running their rehabilitation programs inside the jail and helping Indonesian prisoners to reform themselves.

"There is so many testimonies about what they are doing inside," Mr Matius said.

He called on the Government to investigate the rehabilitation programs being set up and run inside the jail by the two Australians and to see for themselves the number of Indonesians who had benefited.

Bali Nine ... Denpasar District Court clerk pictured at Kerobokan Jail with the rejection letter to the Appeal of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

Mr Matius himself is one. A former prisoner himself, Chan embraced him and helped him get of drugs and turn his life around.

The Government has said that Chan and Sukumaran are among the next group of drug trafficking prisoners to be executed in Indonesia, but has yet to name a date. There are believed to be eight in the group — from the Philippines, France, Ghana, Brazil, Nigeria and one from Indonesia.

The last executions were in the early hours of January 18 where six people, five of them foreigners, were shot dead.

It comes amid Indonesia's new President declaring no mercy for any drug traffickers and citing statistics that 40 to 50 people each day die from drugs in Indonesia.

Researchers have however cast doubt on the truth of the figure and the process of calculating the drug problem in Indonesia.

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