Myuran Sukumaran

Sukumaran had his first major Australian exhibition at the Campbelltown Arts Centre in January 2017, curated by Australian artist Ben Quilty.

In 2015, Nick Xenophon, Clive Palmer and Cathie McGowan announced they would support a private member's bill to impose jail terms on public officials who disclose information that could lead to the execution of Australians overseas, with a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

On 11 February 2015, Indonesian authorities approved the transfer of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Kerobokan prison to Nusa Kambangan in preparation for execution. The transfer was carried out on 4 March.

A candlelight vigil hosted by the Mercy Campaign, entitled Music for Mercy, was held in Sydney's Martin Place on the evening of 29 January 2015 in support of Sukumaran and Chan. The concert featured performances by singer-songwriter Megan Washington, Josh Pyke, Kate Miller-Heidke, Paul Mac, Glenn Richards from Augie March, and The Presets' Julian Hamilton; with Ben Quilty, Andrew Denton, his partner, Jennifer Byrne, and Missy Higgins who recorded video messages of support for Sukumaran and Chan. Similar vigils were organised in Perth, Federation Square and Toongabbie near Sukumaran's family home. Amnesty International organised similar vigils in Federation Square, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, and Byron Bay.

In January 2015, Roy Morgan Research completed a poll that found over half of Australians opposed the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The poll asked "Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been convicted of drug trafficking by the Indonesian courts. Should the death penalty be carried out?" 53% of responses were negative. However, 62% said the Australian Government should not do more to stop the execution of Sukumaran and Chan.

Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson addressed a vigil in Sydney on 28 April 2015, ahead of the planned execution in the early morning on 29 April, calling for last-minute intervention by the Australian Government.

Sukumaran taught English, computer, graphic design and philosophy classes to prisoners. He was instrumental in opening up a computer and art room and also pushed unsuccessfully for an accountancy and law course to be set up. In February 2015 Curtin University conferred Sukumaran with an associate degree in Fine Arts. He also started a business which sells artworks and a clothing brand called Kingpin Clothing.

By order of the Indonesian government, Sukumaran was executed by firing squad on 29 April 2015 at 12:25am WITA along with Chan and six other prisoners (four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian). Sukumaran and the other seven prisoners refused to be blindfolded.

Sukumaran's funeral was conducted at Dayspring Church, Castle Hill on 9 May 2015.

After lodging an appeal against his sentence, Sukumaran's appeal was initially dismissed by the Bali High Court. A judicial review by the Indonesian Supreme Court on 6 July 2011 affirmed the death sentence. Sukumaran's plea for clemency was rejected by the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo on 30 December 2014. He and Chan were executed on 29 April 2015.

On 7 July 2011, it was announced that the Indonesian Supreme Court had rejected Sukumaran's appeal against his death sentence. Indonesian President at that time, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had the power to grant clemency, although media reports considered this unlikely and expected that Sukamaran would be executed. In October 2014, Joko Widodo ("Jokowi") succeeded Yudhoyono as president. Jokowi, who holds a hardline position against drugs, declined Sukumaran's plea for clemency in December 2014. In January 2015 the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, together with the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, made further representations to Jokowi and Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, for clemency on behalf of Sukumaran. In late January lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran filed an application for a judicial review into their cases; which was rejected by the Denpasar District Court a few days later. Meanwhile, Indonesian officials continued planning for the execution of Chan and Sukumaran:

Rush took action in the Federal Court of Australia against the AFP for breach of the bilateral treaty between Indonesia and Australia when information was handed by the AFP to the Indonesians. Rush's case claimed that such information should only be released by the Attorney-General. However, the Commonwealth Government maintained that the treaty only applies after a suspect is charged. The application was dismissed by the Federal Court in January 2006.

On 24 January 2006, prosecutors called for the death penalty to be handed down on Sukumaran, the first time a demand of death was put forward by prosecutors for any of the Bali Nine. Days later, prosecutors advanced the same call followed for Chan. Prosecutors told a Bali court there was no reason to show any leniency towards Sukumaran because he helped organise the heroin smuggling operation. Prosecutors also claim Sukumaran and Chan strapped heroin to the bodies of the fellow accused. Indonesian police identified Sukumaran as one of the main players in what they say was a major smuggling ring.

Sukumaran was found guilty of drug trafficking on 14 February 2006 by three judges in the Denpasar District Court, who sentenced him to death by firing squad.

Julian McMahon, a Melbourne human rights lawyer who took over the case in 2006 on a pro-bono basis, appealed against the severity of Sukumaran's sentence to the Indonesian Supreme Court. During the appeal hearings, it was revealed that the governor of Kerobokan Prison described Sukumaran and Chan as model prisoners and that Sukumaran and Chan have a positive influence on other prisoners. In the meantime, the Australian Government elected to not intervene until the outcome of the appeals was known.

According to Lawrence, following earlier alleged threats from Chan, on 5 April 2005 Sukumaran met with Si Yi Chen, Martin Stephens and Lawrence at a Sydney hotel where police allege drug smuggling tools such as sealable plastic bags, medical tape, elastic waist bands and skin tight bike shorts were stuffed into the bags of Stephens and Lawrence. Lawrence claimed she was given cash; whilst Stephens claimed that his life was threatened. The following day, Sukumaran allegedly provided another group with cash for airflight tickets.

Sukumaran was arrested on 17 April 2005, the day of his 24th birthday, at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman. Indonesian police claim the group were in possession of 334 g (11.8 oz) of heroin and bundles of plastic wrapping, Elastoplast tape, and a set of scales, indicating involvement in a plan to transport drugs to Australia.

Criminal trials for the accused commenced in the Denpasar District Court on 11 October 2005. Chen, Nguyen, and Norman were tried together, with Sukumaran being one of the remaining six defendants tried separately. In December 2005, as the trials began, it was reported that tensions were building between the Bali Nine drug mules and Sukumaran and Chan. Several days later, lawyers acting for some members of the Bali Nine initially sought the support of the Director of Public Prosecutions to intervene and lay charges for conspiracy to import drugs, so that the nine could be extradited and charged under Australian law. However, the judges hearing the trial matters in Bali called for Australia not to intervene in Indonesia's right to impose capital punishment, with Australian lawyers counter-claiming that the fairness of the trial was in jeopardy.

It was also reported that the Australian government had, since December 2005, used diplomatic channels to plead with the Indonesian government that the death penalty not be sought. Following the handing down of the death sentence for both Sukumaran and Chan, The New Zealand Herald speculated the circumstances under which the execution would occur.

After dropping out of university in the first year of his course, Sukumaran worked as a mail-room clerk at State Street Corporation, an American investment bank, and at the passport office in Sydney. He started using drugs and, attracted by fast cars, nightclubs and instant rewards, got involved in drug selling after a university friend introduced him to the criminal world. Sukumaran met Andrew Chan at a friend's party in 2002 and got involved in smuggling drugs from Indonesia to Australia.

Myuran Sukumaran (17 April 1981 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man, who was convicted in Indonesia of drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Sukumaran was arrested in a room at the Melasti Hotel in Kuta with three others. Police found 334 g (11.8 oz) of heroin in a suitcase in the room. According to court testimonies of convicted drug mules, Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were the co-ringleaders of the heroin-smuggling operation from Indonesia to Australia. After a criminal trial, Sukumaran was sentenced on 14 February 2006 by the Denpasar District Court to execution by firing squad.

Sukumaran was born on 17 April 1981 in London. He was the eldest child of Sam and Raji Sukumaran who are Hindus of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. Sukumaran had a brother (Chintu) and a sister (Brintha). The family moved to Australia in 1985 and lived in Auburn, a western suburb of Sydney. Sukumaran was educated at Homebush Boys High School where he was known as "Myu." Although Andrew Chan also attended Homebush the pair were four years apart and mixed in different circles. Sukumaran told a psychiatrist that he faced bullying and racism at school. Only in his adolescence did he start making friends, mostly Chinese and Vietnamese, and started to feel accepted.