Australia's foreign minister said on Thursday she had proposed a prisoner swap with her Indonesian counterpart in an 11th hour effort to save the lives of two Australian drug smugglers expected to face a firing squad within days.
The planned executions of Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31, have ratcheted up diplomatic tension between Australia and Indonesia following repeated pleas for mercy on their behalf. They are among a group of up to 11 convicts, mostly foreigners, due to be executed on the prison island of Nusakambangan.
Speaking after Australian politicians held a candlelight dawn vigil outside parliament house in support of the men, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had spoken to Indonesia's foreign minister earlier this week.
"I just asked for a pause in their preparations for the execution of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan so that we could have officials explore these ideas."
Sukumaran and Chan were transferred from Bali's Kerobokan Prison on Wednesday to Nusakambangan, which lies off Java.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Widodo said the men would be executed soon, but not this week.
"I am still convinced that the justice system in Indonesia, if you look at drug crime, is valid and based on facts and evidence," he said.
Also facing execution are citizens of France, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana and Nigeria, as well as Indonesia.
POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS
The seven other members of the gang, all Australians, have been jailed in Indonesia.
The Australian government has stressed that Chan and Sukumaran have been rehabilitated in prison, where they mentored younger inmates, and has warned of potential political repercussions if the executions go ahead.
The pair have made numerous appeals against their sentences. One of those, which challenges Widodo's refusal of clemency, is still outstanding.
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