Indonesian court to rule Monday on death row Australians' appeal

An Indonesian court will rule Monday on the appeals of two Australian drug smugglers facing execution, a judge said, as their lawyers insisted they had done their best to save the men.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" trafficking gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.

They recently had pleas for clemency, typically a last chance to avoid the firing squad, rejected by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has taken a hard line against traffickers.

The men have mounted several legal bids to avoid execution, and in the latest their lawyers challenged Widodo's decision to reject their mercy pleas, arguing that he failed to assess their rehabilitation or give reasons for his decision.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court rejected that bid in February, saying it had no authority to rule on the matter as granting clemency was the president's prerogative. The men's legal team is now appealing that decision.

READ: Brother of Australian on Indonesia death row pleads for mercy

Wrapping up arguments in favour of the Australians Wednesday, lawyer Leonard Aritonang called on the judges to dismiss the initial verdict as the court did have the right to rule on clemency.

"We ask for the most just decision," he told the court.

However, government lawyer Rusdi Hadi Teguh insisted that the court's initial decision to dismiss the case should stand.

Following the hearing, Aritonang told reporters that he did not want to predict what decision the court would make, but said he was optimistic.

"We did our best," he said.

After hearing the final arguments, presiding judge Ujang Abdullah said verdicts on the appeals would be handed down on Monday.

"Everyone has been given ample opportunity to present their evidence and also their conclusions," he said.

Flurry of legal appeals

The Australians are among several foreign drug convicts on death row in Indonesia who are set to be executed soon after losing their appeals for presidential clemency.

Jakarta has said the group will be put to death at the same time but has not set a date, as authorities are waiting for all legal appeals to conclude.

Also on Wednesday, a court outside Jakarta ordered that an appeal lodged by a French convict, Serge Atlaoui, should be sent for consideration to the Supreme Court.

The 51-year-old, sentenced to death in 2007 after being caught working in a secret drugs factory, appeared briefly in court to sign paperwork for an application for a judicial review of his case.

“I am not asking to be freed, just for my life to be saved,” he told reporters.

READ: Jakarta delays execution of two Australians, denies pressure to blame

In addition to the judicial review, Atlaoui has lodged a challenge at the administrative court to Widodo's decision to reject his appeal for clemency, his lawyer said.

Another foreigner from the group, Martin Anderson from Ghana, also had his application for a judicial review sent to the Supreme Court by a lower court in Jakarta on Wednesday, his lawyer Casmanto Sudra told reporters.

Supreme Court judges will consider the applications at closed hearings, before their verdicts are announced on the court's website at an unspecified date.

The court last month took just five days to reject a request for a judicial review lodged by a Filipina on death row.