Indonesian court to decide on Bali Nine execution appeal on April 6

[JAKARTA] An Indonesian court hearing the appeals of two Australian death row convicts will announce a verdict on April 6, one of the judges determining the case said on Wednesday.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are among a group of 10 prisoners, mostly foreigners, facing imminent execution for drug offences after President Joko Widodo rejected their pleas for clemency. "Both sides have been given ample opportunity to present evidence and testimony," Judge Ujang Abdullah told the court.

"The (panel of three) judges will decide on the case after studying the evidence submitted. The court is adjourned until Monday April 6 when the judges will read out the verdict (in both cases)." The Australian government has pled repeatedly with Indonesia to spare the lives of Sukumaran and Chan, but Widodo has refused to budge, ramping up diplomatic tensions between the neighbours.

Sukumaran and Chan were convicted in 2005 of being the ringleaders in a plot by a group called the Bali Nine to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.

At least four other death row inmates have appealed against their sentences.

Indonesia's attorney general has said all 10 prisoners will face the firing squad together but has yet to set a date for the executions.

REUTERS