Bali Nine pair prepares for execution as families appeal for mercy

The brothers of condemned Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have appealed to the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to show clemency.

Chan and Sukumaran were convicted of smuggling drugs into Indonesia and sentenced to death.

They have now been issued with 72 hours' notice of their executions, meaning they can be executed from Wednesday morning onwards.

The Australian duo are expected to be shot by firing squads, along with 10 people, nine of whom are foreigners.

Indonesian law states that convicts must be given 72 hours' notice of execution, but a formal date has not been set.

A last-ditch show of clemency from Indonesian president Joko Widodo seems unlikely, as all of the condemned were moved into isolation cells.

Families visit

The families of the two men were rushing to the exotic island to be with their loved ones.

"Most of the family is now in Australia so they are heading to Indonesia now," Sukumaran's cousin Niranjela Karunatilake said. "It's a desperate time and we don't really know what else we can do to try and stop this, if there is anything left we can do.

"The death penalty is never the answer, but in Myu's case, when he has done so much to repent and improve prison conditions, it would be a real tragedy if his life was cut short," said Karunatilake. "We are not asking for Myu to be freed, all we ask is for mercy, that he keeps his life."

On Sunday, 26 April, Chan and Sukumaran were visited by their brothers, Michael and Chintu, on the prison island Nusakambangan.

Although Sunday is not usually visiting day, rules are relaxed in prisoners' final days, which indicates that Indonesia has every intention of executing the reformed characters.

Mercy plea

Chintu Sukumaran issued a heartfelt plea to president Widodo to show mercy, not just for his brother, but for all those on death row.

"We all feel this is a grave injustice and it did not have to be this way," he said.

"My brother and Andrew and seven other people, we ask the president to please use his powers to show the same mercy that I know he has asked for Indonesian citizens in other countries.

"There are nine people with families that love them — mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters," he said.

Michael Chan said: "The president needs to show that now. He's the only one that can stop it and it's not too late to do so. So I ask the president please show mercy."

Australian ministers, including Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Tanya Plibersek, have all implored Indonesia not to kill their citizens.

Pleas for mercy from around the world have rained on Indonesia, including from UN chief Ban Ki-Moon.

"The Secretary General appeals to the government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution, as announced, of 10 prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related crimes," a spokesman for the secretary-general said.