AUSTRALIA. LASRY REPEATS CALL FOR BLANKET APPROACH TO DEATH PENALTY

prominent Australian lawyer Lex Lasry, QC, called on the Australian government not to be selective in its opposition to the death penalty in its response to court cases overseas. The government couldn't expect other governments, such as Indonesia's, to take its opposition to the death penalty seriously when it acted selectively in different cases, Lasry said.
He called for a blanket approach by Australia after the two convicted Bali Nine ringleaders had their death penalties upheld the day before by the Bali High Court.
The judges upheld death penalties on Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were arrested over the drug smuggling operation in April 2005, setting the stage for appeals to the country's highest court.
Australia now needed to do "what it can" for the two convicted masterminds, but the federal government's selective approach to the death penalty made this difficult, Lasry said.
"You've got to be consistent about that and you've got to be able to say, well we're opposed to executions in all cases, including in these cases," he said.
"Australia has to have a more consistent and firm policy on the death penalty and they can't expect to have success in particular cases when they sanction the execution of people like (Bali bomber) Amrozi and Saddam Hussein," Lasry added.