Indonesian Air Force Sukhoi fighter jets. PHOTO: Twitter
Indonesian fighter jets have been spotted at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
The Air Force Sukhoi jets could be here to take Bali Nine Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to their execution site in central Java, Nusakambangan prison island, but reports have been conflicting.
Reports from 9News Australia say it’s not confirmed if these jets are actually in Bali to transfer the Bali Nine pair, and that the death row prisoners could be traveling by helicopter escorted by the military aircraft. Though traveling by boat is highly unlikely—no surprises there.
9News reported the arrival of four jets, while indonesianmilitary.com reports three jets landed on Sunday morning at 10:05 am. According to the military blog, the fighter aircraft is there to escort the Bali Nine pair and flew in from Hasanudin Base in Makassar, Sulawesi.
Indonesianmilitary.com quoted a Ngurah Rai official as saying, “The command is that they are prepared specially for the Bali Nine on death row.”
However, the same blog quoted Air Force Air Commodore Hadi Tjahanto as claiming not to have heard this news.
Meanwhile, netizens on Twitter have been posting pictures of the jets and speculating about their purpose in Bali:
Though Indonesia ABC correspondent George Roberts has tweeted that the jets here are just routine and part of a military exercise, according to an Air Force spokesman:
We will update you as we learn more developments on this fighter jets.
