Today marks one year since Andrew Chan, 31 and Myuran Sukumaran, 34, were executed by Indonesian firing squad for their roles as ringleaders in the Bali Nine heroin trafficking group.
Mr Chan’s brother, Michael Chan, said it was “upsetting” that politicians had not continued to be vocal against death sentences in Indonesia in the year since, when they had been vocal during the campaign to save his brother.
Immediately Following the executions, the federal government came down on Indonesia by withdrawing the Australian Ambassador, Chris Grigson, and also discussed the reduction of Australia's $600 million annual aid to the country.
Mr Chan believes his brother died in vain and has largely been forgotten over the year since the executions.
He had hoped the government would pressure Indonesia harder.
“If Andy was to be the last person to be executed in Indonesia, so be it, if it was to abolish the death penalty. He’d be chuffed," he told SBS.
“As humans, the more you see unjust things happening, the more you get affected by it.
“There was so much coverage of it, not just in Australia but worldwide.
“Both sides of political parties were on board and to sort of I guess watch the ball drop to that degree is a little bit upsetting.”
Senior research fellow at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, David McRae, believes the executions were left in the past when Australia changed its prime minister.
“I think we've seen something of a circuit-breaker effect from Malcolm Turnbull's rise to prime minister where the relationship was essentially broken between President Widodo and Prime Minister Abbott, we've instead seen very public, positive atmospherics,” Mr McRae said.
Indonesia hasn't exercised the death penalty since Chan and Sukumaran were executed with other convicts in April 2015, but the country has handed down another 46 death sentences.
Amnesty International Indonesia spokesman Papang Hidayat said by temporarily halting executions, President Joko Widodo was to restore confidence among other countries in trade relationships with Indonesia, rather than shame over the killings.
“Indonesia prioritised the economic development but recently we heard that the Attorney-General wanted to resume the third wave of executions probably somewhere in May,” he told SBS from London.
Australia still opposed to death penalty
A spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told SBS in a statement that: "The Australian government remains universally opposed to the death penalty.
“Australia made its position on the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran very clear to Indonesia at the time. The executions were a difficult point in the relationship, however Indonesia remains one of Australia’s most important and enduring bilateral relationships," the statement said.
“Australia raises our principled opposition to the death penalty, and individual cases directly with countries, including through bilateral discussions and our human rights dialogues.”
Andrew Chan's legacy
Chan said he wanted his brother’s legacy to inspire legal change around the world.
“People are human, they make mistakes,” he said.
“Just because someone makes one mistake, you can’t just kill them. I’d like to see Indonesia instead of just killing them, rewarding them to some degree."
The family was planning a small gathering in Sydney to mark the anniversary.
“I think everyone’s trying to get their life back together to some degree,” Mr Chan said.
“It’s still pretty raw and I think everyone’s doing as well as they can. We’re going to have a few of our family and close friends over.
“When we did our whole thing for him with 2000 people at Hillsong last year (Andrew’s funeral) - we’re definitely not going anywhere near that. I think it’s going to be more of an intimate thing. I don’t want it played out in the media.”
Australians Against Capital Punishment will hold a vigil to make the anniversary of their deaths in Brisbane on Friday
Chan’s lawyer, Melbourne Barrister, Julian McMahon, was awarded the 2015 Victorian of the Year recipient for his work in challenging death penalty laws.
He did not wish to be interviewed and told SBS the Sukamaran family was also too distressed to speak.
Indonesian Embassy and Consular representatives in Australia rejected SBS’ requests for interviews.
