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Music

Napalm Death Plea to Indonesian President to Spare the Lives of Condemned Bali Nine Smugglers

The UK grindcore kings ask for clemency for two Australians facing death by firing squad.

This article originally ran on Noisey Australia.

Napalm Death, whose 1987 debut Scum is considered one of the greatest grindcore albums ever, have issued a plea to one of their fans, Indonesian president Joko Widodo, to grant clemency to convicted drug smugglers Myuran Sukmaran and Andrew Chan.

Australians Sukmaan and Chan, who face death by firing squad for their part of the Bali Nine drug smuggling operation, have had their appeals for clemency rejected by the President.

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This past week, Mark "Barney'" Greenway, vocalist for the Birmingham grindcore kings, launched a last-ditch effort on the band’s Facebook page urging Widodo (who is known to wear Napalm Death shirts), to spare the lives of Sukmaan and Chan, who were charged for their part in smuggling heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005.

"Dear Mr. Widodo, I am appealing directly to you to please spare the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the two Australian citizens who are currently awaiting the death sentence in Indonesia for heroin smuggling," his message began.

"As a follower of our band Napalm Death, you would appreciate that our lyrics and ethos challenge the unbroken cycle of violence in the world, whether it comes from a state or as an individual. If these things are not challenged and ultimately changed, I believe we will never truly move forward as humankind."

The Facebook post, which as of Friday evening has more than one thousand likes, links to Mercy Campaign, a website petition to save the lives of Chan and Sukumaran.