AUSTRALIA. HOWARD TO LOBBY OVER DEATH PENALTY

death sentences imposed by an Indonesian court on two Australians found guilty of heroin trafficking triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity in Australia, with Prime Minister John Howard promising to lobby Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for clemency.
Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24, were sentenced to death by firing squad in Bali for "exporting heroin in an organised ring and possessing a prohibited class-one narcotic."
Prosecutors said Chan and Sukumaran headed up a ring of seven other young Australians -- known collectively as the "Bali Nine" -- who were arrested as they attempted to smuggle 8 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin from Bali island to their homeland in April 2005. Howard said after the sentences were announced that he would take "the appropriate action" to lobby President Yudhoyono against the death penalty, but noted there was an appeal process and that the Australian government could not overturn Indonesian law.