Bali Nine art exhibition cancelled

Indonesia says the execution of the Bali Nine drug smugglers is not 'open for negotiation'.

Death row ... Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have attended a church service. Picture: AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati Source: Supplied

A PRISONER art exhibition and auction has been dramatically cancelled in Bali after Kerobokan prison authorities said they did not want to be involved in the politics of the Bali Nine executions.

Only hours before the event was due to begin, the Kerobokan Jail governor Sudjonggo ordered all 92 prisoner paintings to be removed and cancelled the event.

He said that after authorities realised the event would be a tribute to Myuran Sukumaran they decided to call it off.

Sudjonggo said that he had initially told organisers the event was not to be about Sukumaran and that his invitation had only mentioned the auction was for Kerobokan prisoner art.

Myuran Sukumaran's painting of an execution pole. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

One of Sukumaran's self-portraits. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

He said when he discovered the invitation for the public included Sukumaran's name he ordered the paintings to be removed from the venue, at the Hard Rock Hotel.

"It is cancelled because we do not want to be involved in any matters relating to Myuran. I have conveyed to the organisers about that and they promised that none of Myuran's paintings will be at the exhibition. But apparently there are Myuran's paintings to be exhibited there also," Sudjonggo said.

"We have just realised that the invitation we got is different with the public invitation. So we decided to take away all the paintings this afternoon.

"It doesn't mean that we are forgetting Myuran. No. But we just don't want to be involved in the discourse about the execution which is now already politicised," he said.

The auction of 92 paintings by prisoners in the Kerobokan jail art program was to held on Friday night in Bali. None of Sukumaran's paintings were to be auctioned but some of his latest works were to be exhibited at the event.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Attorney-General HM Prasetyo says he hopes those sweating on death row with no clear word of when they will be shot will use their time to mentally prepare themselves for death.

Mr Prasetyo — whose CV names him as a former national director of executions — vowed to push ahead with killing the drug runners, including Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but says it is still not certain how many will be shot.

Asked if the number of victims was still 11, he said: "Maybe more, maybe less."

His comments came as Chan and Sukumaran have been allowed to attend a church service inside Besi prison on Nusakambangan where they are being held ahead of their executions.

Next in line ... Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran en route to Nusakambangan Island. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Mr Prasetyo denied Indonesia was stalling on the killings, but agreed that the prison island of Nusakambangan where the death-row inmates are housed — excluding Filipino woman Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso — had completed all necessary preparations.

"We are waiting for all the legal action (to conclude) because we don't want any trouble afterwards," he said.

"All this procedure is not an obstacle. But we are respecting the legal action."

Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran have another court appearance on Thursday, and French man Serge Atlaoui will not have another court appearance until March 25.

Mr Prasetyo talked of the death-row prisoners now being in an "assimilation" period.

"The assimilation is about preparing them mentally," he said. "They have to be coordinated by spiritual people so we hope after they are assimilated they are ready to be executed."

He said the preference was to stage one mass execution. "We are doing it altogether," he said. "As long as the preparations are complete, we will do it at the same time."

He said there was no chance the executions would be cancelled.

Support ... Andrew Chan's girlfriend, Febyanti Herewila, at Nusakambangan Island. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Australia's Grand Mufti, Professor Ibrahim Abu Mohamed has returned to Australia after leading a delegation to plead for the lives of the Australians.

Shiekh Dr Amin Hady, who travelled with him, remained in Jakarta. "We had two meetings, the Minister of Religious Affairs and with the National Human Rights Commission.

"The meetings went well. We told them we are here not to intervene in the Indonesian process. It is absolutely within Indonesian authority to conduct executions, nonetheless we have come with the request for mercy and forgiveness.

"If a person has shown regret and asks forgiveness, then in Islam you are encouraged to give forgiveness."

The delegation managed to get their views heard but were not able to get any assurances the men would be spared.

Meantime, Chan and Sukumaran, along with their Nigerian death row cellmate, were allowed to attend a church service along with about 16 prisoners.

Nightmare ... Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have been told to mentally prepare for their death. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The 90 minute service was held on Thursday this week and was the first time the death row trio have been able to mix with other prison inmates.

Sources at Nusakambangan have confirmed that the Australians attended the service, of Holy Communion and prayers, and that Chan, himself a pastor, played the guitar during the service.

Chan and Sukumaran are currently being held in a block of four quarantine or holding cells at Besi prison, along with Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami, whose real name is Jamu Owolabi Abashin. He was transferred to Nusa Kambangan the same time as the Australians but with no fanfare.

The 41-year-old Nigerian was arrested with a fake passport but all his paperwork since his arrest uses the false name and not his real name, a point which his legal team have now picked up on for further legal action.

Authorities say the cells are used as quarantine cells for prisoners who first arrive at the jail, before they are assigned permanent cells with the rest of the jail population.

Partner ... Andrew Chan's fiancee Feby after visiting him at Besi Prison. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

They are normally placed in the quarantine cells for a period of about two weeks to acclimatise to the jail and before they are sent to permanent cells.

Chan and Sukumaran have now been on Nusa Kambangan for more than a week after their dramatic transfer from Kerobokan prison in Bali. They have been visited each day by their lawyers and Australian Consular officials and have so far had two family visits.

Family visits are allowed only on Monday and Wednesday each week, from 9am to 1pm.

Members of their families remain in Cilacap, the port town closest to the jail. Sukumaran's brother Chinthu has travelled to Bali to attend an exhibition of his siblings recent art works to be held in Kuta on Friday night, along with an auction of other prisoner art works.

Shoulder to lean on ... Andrew Chan's brother Michael at Kerobokan Jail before Chan was transferred. Picture: Lukman S. Bintoro Source: Supplied

The exhibition is a tribute to Sukumaran, who set up art and rehabilitation programs inside the jail which have helped restore the lives of countless Indonesian prisoners.

The art works to be auctioned are those of current prisoners and the proceeds will go toward funding the jail art program and to setting up a Bali Nine gallery outside the jail for former prisoners who are now artists.

Yuspahruddin, the Corrective Services chief of Central Java, said that Chan and Sukumaran are being treated as normal prisoners at Nusa Kambangan.

He said on their first day in jail the pair was not allowed out of their cells, as per normal jail rules for new prisoners.

But since then they had been allowed out each day — from 7am to 1pm. They must then return to their cells for lunch and the guard changeover for about 30-60 minutes and are then allowed back out again until lockdown at 5pm.

Mr Yuspahruddin said that eventually Sukumaran would be allowed to have his art materials and be allowed to continue painting in jail. He is understood to currently have a sketchbook and pencils but not paints or an easel.

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