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Australia urges Indonesia to halt drug executions until graft claims probed

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Australia on Monday urged Indonesia to ensure all legal processes have been cleared of corruption before executing two of its nationals, as bribery allegations surfaced regarding their drug smuggling trial.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop spoke to her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Sunday evening while Prime Minister Tony Abbott has written to President Joko Widodo to again plead for the executions to be halted.

“Bali Nine” drug traffickers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan could face the firing squad as early as Tuesday, along with others from Brazil, Nigeria, the Philippines and an Indonesian prisoner.

Bishop said she had no official advice on when they might be killed, but “it could be April 29”.

She said the men should not be executed while legal questions remain.

“I should point out that Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran`s lawyers are pursuing action before the Constitutional Court in Indonesia,” said told ABC radio.

“And there`s also a separate investigation underway by the Indonesian Judicial Commission into claims of corruption into the original trial and both of these processes raise questions about the integrity of the sentencing and the clemency process.

“I`ve asked foreign minister Marsudi that no action be taken in relation to the proposed executions until these legal processes have been determined,” she added.

On Monday, Fairfax Media published allegations of corruption by the judges who sentenced the pair in 2006, claiming they asked for more than one billion rupiah — around Aus$133,000 at the time — to give them a prison term of less than 20 years.

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