BALLARAT groups and advocates have called on further efforts to stop two Australian men being killed by firing squad in Indonesia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillor Belinda Coates said she supported Amnesty International's calls to stop the executions.
"(Execution) is something that has been stopped by 140 countries now, some for 100 years now...and it's been shown it doesn't work as a deterrent," she said.
"Any advocacy or lobbying people can do (would be meaningful)."
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were among the infamous Bali Nine, arrested in 2005 for attempting to smuggle eight kilograms of heroin into Australia in a joint operation by Indonesian authorities, the Australian Federal Police and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
The two men were convicted as the ringleaders and sentenced to death.
The new Indonesian president Joko Widodo has kept a firm line on death-row prisoners, surprising international observers who thought his reformist campaign and non-military background would mean mercy for the men.
But earlier this month, Indonesia executed six people for drugs offences, ignoring calls from the European Union and the Brazilian government, among others, for leniency.
This move has moved people into action, with a candlelight vigil and concert held in Sydney on Thursday night.
Much of the action, including pleas by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, centres on commuting the death penalty in both cases to life or long-term imprisonment, not release.
Margaret Lenan Ellis, a member of the Ballarat Interfaith Network, said that while their crimes could not be excused, execution was not the answer.
"Personally, coming from a religious background, I wish there was room for mercy," she said.
"I can understand the Indonesian government has the right to set their own laws, and their own sense of justice for what was in fact a crime that brings misery to a lot of lives."
Ms Ellis said both men had seemingly been reformed in their almost 10 years in prison already.
"If there is evidence of remorse, and a genuine effort to better themselves, and to therefore serve other people instead of exploit other people (there should be mercy)," she said.