Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan wait in a holding cell in Bali in 2005. Photo / Getty
Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan wait in a holding cell in Bali in 2005. Photo / Getty
The mastermind behind the Bali Nine drug trafficking plot is allegedly currently enjoying an extravagant lifestyle in Sydney, having literally won the lottery after he escaped all convictions.
The unnamed man is living the high-life while two Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, face execution by firing squad thismonth.
The drug lord had been the subject of previous police investigations into drug trafficking before the Bali Nine bust. However, he stepped away from his life of crime following his incredibly lucky lotto win, according to the newspaper.
Chan and Sukumaran have never exposed the identity of the person or people they were working for, fearing they would put their families in Australia in danger.
According to the Morning Herald, the mastermind behind the 2005 Australia to Indonesia drug run is suspected of having a high-level involvement in the syndicate.
Further delays possible
Chan and Sukumaran were handed death penalties in 2006 and all subsequent appeals have failed.
The two men facing imminent death reportedly only had low-to-mid-level involvement.
Helen Chan, mother of condemned drug trafficker Andrew Chan, cries during a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo / Getty
However, there are new reports that there is a possibility the execution of the two Australians will be further delayed.
Indonesia's justice and human rights minister, Yasonna Laoly, has claimed the executions may not take place this month due to political tensions, according to ABC News.
The delay would occur due to a conflict in Indonesia between corruption investigators and the national police force.
However, attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo contradicted Laoly's claims, insisting that the executions would go ahead as planned.
Helen Chan, the mother of convicted Bali Nine drug smuggler Andrew Chan, has made an impassioned plea for her son's life to be spared as he, along with Myuran Sukumaran, face execution by firing squad this month.
On ABC's Four Corners programme she described his daily life as "every day he is walking in the valley of death".
Australian police blamed
Sukumaran's mother Raji on Monday blamed the Australian Federal Police for her son's plight after they tipped off Indonesian authorities - but those same officials insist they would do the same again and also into the future.
"It's a strange thing to wish to spend the rest of your life in prison. But we don't want them to die," she said.
Myuran Sukumaran's mother Raji at a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo / Getty
The families of the Australians on death row have made a trip to Jakarta's presidential palace to plead for the two Sydney men to be spared.
"He is willing to face it, he is not ignoring his wrongdoing," she said.
"This is what I am proud of. I feel that he is very down to earth - facing death every day, but not crying or making a scene.
"Therefore this time when I see him, although I am sad, I have inner peace."
Chan told Four Corners that he will continue to read and stay fit.
"Here I am, I sit here and I study. People say I can't. I sit here on a death-row sentence and most people turn around and go, 'It's a waste of time.' I believe it's not. I believe the Lord has a purpose for me. And it's not here and it's not to die."
Raji Sukumaran and son Chinthu, along with Helen Chan and son Michael, will meet Indonesia's national human rights organisation to set forth the legal battle in a bid to save the condemned pair's lives.
"Our days are very difficult, we can't stop thinking of what will happen and the violent way he will be killed. My mum keeps thinking about his and Andrew's dead body being handed to her, she is having nightmares," Chinthu Sukumaran said.
"Why is it that the Indonesian president does not give him a chance and have pity on us being aged parents?" Ms Chan told Four Corners.
"We are old and in poor health and we do not have long to live, therefore we would not like to see our son go before us."
Lawyer to 'take the heat'
Meanwhile, the lawyer who represented the Bali Nine ringleaders when they were first sentenced to death row is putting his job on the line by claiming he has new evidence that could save the duo.
In an extraordinary twist, Muhammad Rifan says he has "never revealed evidence" that could discredit him - but he was prepared to "take the heat' for the Australian drug smugglers.
"It's something that implicates us, it could discredit me. But for them I will take it. I told Myuran it's okay"' he said.
"Those judges, I believe they were very sorry because after sentencing them to death, they told me that was not want they wanted.
"This highlights the problems that time, between the Indonesian government and the Australian government.
"I see at that time, the judges were not independent in sentencing the case."
Even though the families blame the Australian Federal Police for their sons' fates, Mike Phelan, who led the Australian probe into the Bali Nine, said: "I think it's a tragedy that we've got young lives that are potentially facing the death penalty, but I believe it was a successful operation and, you know, taking 8kg of heroin, which is a very significant amount of heroin, off the streets is a significant operation."
Sukumaran admitted on the ABC programme: "I was stupid. I didn't really think through the consequences or anything. Somebody asked me to do something and I just sort of did it because they were my friends and I trusted them and I believed in them."
Chan said: "Look, you know, I think every criminal, what rushes to their mind, they're not gonna get busted, full stop."
But there was a final clear warning from Mr Phelan.
"Even with the aid of hindsight, should the same set of circumstances present themselves again with another syndicate or other people, we would exactly the same thing."
