Bali Nine: Australian government condemns pictures of grinning Indonesian police chief posing with prisoners as they prepare to face firing squad

As the ringleaders of the heroin-trafficking gang, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death nine years ago

Australians Myuran Sukumaran (left) and Andrew Chan (right), the two ringleaders of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, pictured being escorted out of court in 2006. 14 February 2006. The Indonesian court issued death sentences for Australian's Chan and Sukumaran (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Widely shared photographs of Bali’s top police officer posing with two Australians on their way to face a firing squad have been condemned by the Australian government, as Indonesia prepared to execute 10 convicted drug smugglers, including nine foreign nationals, within days.

Commissioner Djoko Hari Utomo grinned as he placed an avuncular hand, in turn, on the shoulders of Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33. The photographs were taken on board a plane flying the pair to the notorious prison island of Nusakambangan, in Java, this week.

All pleas for mercy have been rejected by President Joko Widodo, who has said he is determined to stamp out Indonesia’s drugs problem. As well as the two Australians, the 10 comprise a Brazilian, a French national, a Ghanaian, three Nigerians and an Indonesian – all men – plus one woman, from the Philippines.

Australia has made 22 pleas to Indonesia since January to spare the lives of its citizens, conveyed in letters and phone calls from, among others, the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop.

Today, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry rebuffed the latest approach: an offer by Ms Bishop to repatriate three Indonesians serving sentences for drug offences in Australia.

Indonesian police stand guard as the Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran arrive at Wijaya Pura Port where they will be transferred to Nusa Kambangan prison ahead of their execution in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia (Getty Images) (Getty)

A ministry spokesman told Australia’s ABC radio that there was no legal framework in Indonesia permitting a prisoner exchange.

The case has strained relations between Australia and its sprawling northern neighbour, the third largest democracy after India and the US.

Indonesians reacted angrily last week when Mr Abbott recalled how Australia gave $1bn (£512m at today’s rates) in aid following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, which devastated Aceh province.

Elected last October, Mr Widodo has been accused by political foes of weakness and indecision. That has made him all the more determined, say Indonesia-watchers, to deal firmly with convicted drug smugglers – a stance popular in the country at large.

Only six weeks ago, a Brazilian and a Dutchman were among a group of drug criminals executed on Nusakambangan – prompting those two countries to withdraw their ambassadors.

The ringleaders of a heroin-trafficking gang known as the Bali Nine, Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran were sentenced to death nine years ago.

Two Australian drug traffickers Andrew Chan (L) and Myuran Sukumaran (R) the ringleaders of the "Bali Nine" drug ring, are seen in a holding cell while awaiting court trial in Denpasar, on Bali island (Getty Images) (JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

In jail, they became, by all accounts, reformed characters. Mr Chan found God and led religious services, while Mr Sukumaran, a gifted artist, held drawing classes. Both men preached about the evils of drugs to other prisoners.

On Wednesday, the pair were flown to Java in a chartered plane shadowed by four fighter jets. Amid a massive police and military operation, they were then put on a ferry to Nusakambangan, where they and the others could face a firing squad as early as next week.

Normal practice is for executions to take place shortly after midnight, with the prisoners tied to a pole or given the option to sit or kneel.