the lead guitarist of black sabbath has tried to appeal to the indonesian president's love of heavy metal to spare the lives of andrew chan and myuran sukumaran tony iommi wrote a letter to president joko widodo to ask for clemency for the australian pair this comes as foreign minister julie bishop used parliament to directly plead with the indonesian president however the indonesian ambassador has defended his government in a letter responding to a senate attempt to save the bali nine duo the lead guitarist of black sabbath has tried to appeal to the indonesian president's love of heavy metal to spare the lives of andrew chan and myuran sukumaran  tony iommi (left) wrote a letter to president joko widodo (right) to ask for clemency for the australian pair  andrew chan (left) and myuran sukumaran (right) were transferred to nusakambangan island on wednesday to await their execution  'i appeal to you, as a forgiving man, to take note of their transformation,' tony iommi wrote in a letter to president joko widodo about the two australian drug smugglers on death row 'they are now reformed men who are making a positive difference to the lives of their fellow prisoners 'for this reason, i would ask that you stop the execution of andrew and myuran 'please allow them to serve out life sentences where they contribute to the well being of indonesia and make good for the error of their previous ways' on wednesday, ms bishop told parliament that indonesian authorities were preparing for the execution of andrew chan and myuran sukumaran 'on behalf of the parliament, i respectfully ask of the indonesian president that he spare the lives of these two australian citizens,' ms bishop said she said she had spoken with the two families on wednesday morning 'as you can imagine they are devastated but they are just living day by day,' she said a plea for clemency was rejected in january but since then the government has been seeking a permanent stay of execution indonesia's ambassador nadjib riphat kesoema has written to federal parliament defending his government's decision not to save two australian drug smugglers on death row  ms bishop said there were grounds for clemency and the government believed there were still legal avenues open to the pair 'the grounds are that both men have shown immense remorse for their grave crimes and have undergone an extraordinary rehabilitation' labor foreign affairs spokeswoman tanya plibersek supported the minister's remarks 'we are united in opposing the death penalty in this case as we are in every case,' she said 'we would plead with the indonesian government and the people of indonesia  for the lives of two young men who have made enormous transformations in their lives and who are making enormous transformations in the lives of other people as well' in the senate, attorney general george brandis said the government had made at least 22 representations to indonesian officials since january in a bid to save the two men that included letters and phone calls from prime minister tony abbott, ms bishop and the australian federal police asio chief duncan lewis and attorney general department secretary chris moraitis had also been sent to indonesia to plead for the pair foreign minister julie bishop has used parliament to directly plead with the indonesian president to spare the lives of two australian drug smugglers  indonesia's ambassador nadjib riphat kesoema has written to federal parliament defending his government's decision not to save two australian drug smugglers on death row the senate last month urged the indonesian government to spare the lives of bali nine duo andrew chan and myuran sukumaran, who are expected to face the firing squad in the next few days in response, mr kesoema said the decision not to pardon the pair was very difficult for president joko widodo on both a personal and humanitarian level however, the drug problem had 'blossomed into a national emergency' and required strong law enforcement 'most tragically, drugs and their traffickers and producers have denied too many people including children of their right to life,' he wrote mr kesoema said both cases had been granted due process of law and all legal avenues had been pursued he defended the court's decision to impose the death penalty and said separation of powers meant the government could not meddle in judicial processes the upper house had argued the sentences should be commuted to a prison term due to the pair's genuine remorse and rehabilitation chan and sukumaran were transferred to nusakambangan island on wednesday to await their execution
tony iommi indonesian andrew chan myuran sukumaran julie bishop chan sukumaran nusakambangan wednesday
black sabbath lead guitarist tony iommi has written a letter to the indonesian president  he is asking for clemency for andrew chan and myuran sukumaran  foreign minister julie bishop used parliament to directly plead with the indonesian president  the indonesian ambassador has defended his government's decision  chan and sukumaran were transferred to nusakambangan island on wednesday 