Bali Nine executions: Explosive claims of judge bribe offers

The former lawyer for Australian Bali Nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran has reportedly filed explosive claims that the judges who sentenced the pair to death asked for over $130,000 to give them a prison term of less than 20 years.

"We met many times with the judges," Muhammad Rifan said in an interview with Gold Walkley-winning journalist Mark Davis.

"We were talking about how long the penalty would be - even though this is prohibited between lawyers and a judge, this is the reality. It's normal."

Rifan alleges that the judges were initially prepared to accept a deal worth more than one billion rupiah (over $133,000) for a verdict lower than 20 years in prison, but that fell through just weeks before the sentencing because of an order that allegedly came from the attorney general's office and the supreme court.

It was then, claims Rifan, that the judges began "asking for a lot more money".

"I just explained to them how much we had and they said the risk was now too big for them and that the [1 billion rupiah] was not enough," he said.

"I thought they were only joking. I thought they would return back to the 20 years if I didn't come up with more money."

But they weren't, and only weeks later Chan and Sukumaran were sentenced to death.

Rifan says he has gone public with the claims of corruption as the imminent execution of the Bali Nine pair draws ever closer.

"This is an extraordinary situation because it is about lives," he said.

"If they are dead they cannot be brought back again."

Chan (left) and Sukumaran are making the most of their final days with loved ones while Jakarta firms its plans to execute the Bali Nine pair. Photo: AAP

Family visit Chan and Sukumaran ahead of executions

The revelations come as Sukumaran and Chan begin to make the most of their final days with loved ones while Jakarta firms its plans to execute the Bali Nine pair.

After visiting the men, whose execution looks set for Tuesday, their brothers begged the only man with the power to save them, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, to consider it again.

Chinthu Sukumaran said his brother had made peace with the situation, "but he and we all feel that this is a grave injustice and it did not have to be this way and it still doesn't have to be this way", he told reporters.

"We ask the president to please use his powers to intervene and save their lives."

Michael Chan said mercy must be part of Indonesia's legal system and implored the president for his mercy.

"He's the only one that can stop it and it's not too late to do so," he said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is due to meet French leader Francios Hollande on Monday, having pledged to work together to stop the executions, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has added his voice to global calls to halt the execution plans.

But Mr Joko appears to have closed his ears to calls for mercy from the families and the world.

Before leaving for a summit in Malaysia on Sunday, the president known as Jokowi told reporters: "I've already talked several times about it, I don't want to talk about it again," news website Rappler reported.

Sukumaran's mother Raji and sister Brintha also visited on Sunday, making the sad journey with Chan's mother Helen, brother Michael and fiancee Feby Herewila and other friends.

The brothers also revealed the pair's final wishes - Sukumaran's to be allowed to paint for as long as possible, and Chan to attend a church service with his family.

Lawyer Julian McMahon took a fourth, more disturbing self portrait from Sukumaran's cell on Sunday, depicting the artist shot through the heart.

The legal team has lodged a challenge with the constitutional court but the attorney-general hasn't acknowledge it, arguing the pair have exhausted their appeals.

His office is yet to respond to moves by lawyers for Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, who filed a second request for a judicial review late on Friday.

Indonesian Zainal Abidin's appeal is expected to be rejected on Monday, as he's already been moved in readiness for his execution.

And lawyers for Rodrigo Gularte plan to file another appeal on Monday, with documentation of his long-standing mental illness.

Jakarta should make clear on Monday the situation that unfolded over the weekend that has only nine of the 10 prisoners Indonesia had readied for execution expected to face the firing squad.

Frenchman Serge Atlaoui apparently won a reprieve based on an administrative matter.

Morning news break – April 27