News - Plans for Bali Nine drug courior Michael Czugaj to appeal sentence

According to a recent report in The Australian, drug courier Michael Czugaj is planning to appeal his life sentence this month.

Czuga is currently serving an indefinite term of imprisonment in Kerobokan Bali, but he hopes to receive a fixed term sentence and possible remission for good behaviour.

Now aged 26, he was 18 when arrested at Denpasar Airport for drug offences.

His mother Vicki Czugaj hoped that a prisoner exchange program could be arranged between Indonesia and Australia and that her son could serve a portion of his sentence back in Australia.

Czugaj will lodge his final appeal in the Denpasar District Court this month, and if that is denied his final chance will be to appeal for clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

According to The Australian “Czugaj is expected, in his judicial review, to request his life sentence be reduced to 15 years.”

News - Indonesians spared from death in Saudi Arabia

Yesterday, two Indonesian migrant workers returned home to their families after being freed from death row in Saudi Arabia on charges of murder and witchcraft.
 
Neneng, an Indonesian citizen from West Java, was released following a direct appeal from the President of the Migrant Taskforce which highlighted the lack of evidence and a lack of qualification to be caring for a seriously ill child.
 
The second citizen, Mesi, was sentenced to death for confessing to bewitching her employers. After retracting her confession and an appeal from the Indonesian embassy she was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, which was commuted by the Saudi King who returned Mesi to Indonesia.

This development follows after two Indonesian workers were released from death row and returned home in December of last year.
 
With over 3 million citizens working abroad there can be no doubt that this is a powerful issue for the Indonesian people.
 
It appears that the efforts of the Migrant Taskforce have been greatly successful in ensuring that the tragic case of Ruyati binti Sapubi, who was executed in Saudi Arabia in mid-2011, is not repeated. This success of the taskforce comes only weeks after President SBY extended their mandate for an additional 6 months.
 
The Mercy Campaign wants to acknowledge the efforts being made in Indonesia to support and protect its citizens who are at risk of being executed overseas.

New Year Message

The Mercy Campaign team would like to extend our thanks for your support.

We launched the campaign to respectfully seek clemency for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

Since the launch we have had thousands add their names to the petition and we’ve also had a terrific response on facebook.

The Mercy Campaign has spread throughout Australia, Asia, Europe, South and North America.

 Andrew and Myuran’s families would like to thank all those who have offered their support.

 "I would like to sincerely thank everyone for supporting the Mercy Campaign, it means so much to our family. The support that Myu and Andrew received from all over the world has been overwhelming and we remain hopeful.  Thank you,  Raji Sukumaran.”

This new year promises much for the Mercy Campaign as we continue to seek clemency for Andrew and Myuran.

Please tell your friends about our campaign.

Bondi Dreaming

Sydney theatre director Sam Atwell is currently directing a play – Bondi Dreaming – which explores issues around the death penalty. 

He writes in support of the Mercy Campaign:

"After the events of the Bali Nine played out on our television screens in 2005 a multitude of thoughts and questions entered my mind.  I set about writing a play to explore the complex themes brought up by their ordeal.  My goal was to humanise their plight as I feel it's easy to sometimes become desensitised by what we view in the news media. In order to explore this territory I used three fictional characters from Sydney's western suburbs who found themselves incarcerated in a random prison cell somewhere in a foreign land. Searching for redemption, the three men play out moments from their past and what their future could have been.  

We first performed the play in 2008 at the Newtown Theatre, then in 2009 as part of Seymour Centre's Best of Independent Theatre program.  This year it was chosen to be part of the National play Festival and to be in Tamarama Rock Surfers inaugural season at the Bondi Pavilion Theatre. 

After hearing the news of Andrew and Myuran losing their final appeal we really wanted to make this year’s play as powerful as possible so that we could encourage our audience to join the Mercy Campaign and humbly ask President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency.  As a theatre company we flew to Bali and were lucky enough to get in contact with some incredible people working inside at outside Kerobokan prison.  We were able to visit the prison and see the inspirational artistic and spiritual programs that have been set up with the assistance of Andrew and Myuran.  

We gave a reading of the play to the friends we made in Bali, many of who are serving as support to the prisoners in Kerobokan.  This performance was probably our most nerve wracking to date as we wanted to make sure our play touched the right chord and would encourage people to seek clemency.  We were validated but also irrevocably changed.  From our week long experience we gained depth and insight into the power of art, faith and compassion. I hope we can now convey these qualities on our stage and compel our fellow Australians to ask for mercy."

International Commission of Jurists - Forum on Death Penalty

Radio Australia reported on the ICJ forum on Indonesia and the Death Penalty that was held in Melbourne on 29 July and included Julian McMahon, Barry Jones and Indonesia expert, Tim Lindsey as speakers.

It was an incredibly informative and well received discussion, and you can hear a few snippets of it, or read the transcript, on the Radio Australia website.

You can also listen to the full speech by Barry Jones here or read the script here.

The Mercy Campaign was in attendance giving everyone the chance to sign the petition and show their support for Andrew and Myuran.

Keep watching this space and tell your friends, family and colleagues about our petition and ways to get involved.

Mercy Campaign on 7pm Project

The Mercy Campaign is featuring on Channel 10's The 7PM Project today, 22 August 2011.

Tune in to hear from Andrew and Myuran's family, their lawyer Julian McMahon and Mercy Campaign co-founder Tash Stojanovich.

If you've arrived here after hearing about us from the 7PM crew, welcome.

Check out the videos, see how you can get involved, and don't forget to sign the petition!

Thanks,

-- The Mercy team

Mercy Campaign International

Our thanks to all those who have added their names to the petition.

We have supporters in:

    - Australia
    - Indonesia
    - United Kingdom
    - South Africa
    - Germany
    - USA
    - Canada
    - Malaysia
    - New Zealand

With your help we will continue to respectfully seek clemency for Andrew and Myuran.

Kerobokan Art

On Thursday 21st July, 2011, the 'Art From Prison' auction was held at Warisan Restaurant & Bar in Kerobokan, Bali.

The purpose of the auction was to raise money to fund art programs for prisoners in Kerobokan Prison.

Warison restaurant has a long tradition supporting the arts, showing the works of local and international artists, as well as providing a meeting place for the areas painters, writers and art lovers.

Thirty-five paintings by Kerobokan prisoners were on auction, including a painting by Myuran Sukumaran.
The monies raised will go towards purchasing art materials to be used by the prison art program.

Nico Vrielink, a renowned Dutch painter living in Indonesia auctioned some of his work, as did the artist Theos.

Both painters teach art in Kerobokan prison.

News update 19 July, 2011

We want to thank everyone for your overwhelming support over the past couple of days since we launched the campaign on Sunday 17 July 2011. 

Since then we have received a really encouraging amount of support with 2000+ likes on facebook over 2000 signatures on our petition in a little over 48 hours! 

We've also been reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and some interviews on ABC radio and Sydney's 2GB. 

This is a great start to our campaign. We are still planning lots of interesting and engaging developments to help spread the word about Myuran and Andrew's bid for clemency. 

In the meantime, keep watching watch this space, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, Digg us and spread the word to your friends/family/colleagues (there's a pro forma letter in the Get Involved page), and if you haven't already, please sign the petition. 

Most importantly, thanks again for your support.

P.S. We received this moving letter from a supporter and we want to share it with you. Please feel free to send us your support in any form, be it video, written, typed or drawn.

I do not know either Andrew Chan or Myuran Sukumaran. 

I do not support a death penalty. 

In March last year I wrote to then Prime Minister Mr Rudd, via his on-line contact site, regarding Scott Rush. I did not get any response at all. 

I lost my youngest son in January 2010 through an accident. The effect of his death is devastating for each member of my family. 

To execute someone punishes not only the the person but the entire family. 

The families of these men are not guilty of a crime. They do not deserve to be punished in such a cruel way. 

I hope your campaign succeeds