Two Australians accused of killing an underworld figure and seriously injuring another are now desperately fighting to escape the death penalty in Bali. 

Mevlut Coskun, 22, and Paea I Middlemore Tupou, 27, fronted Denpasar District Court on Monday following the alleged assassination of Zivan Radmanovic and the wounding of Sanar Ghanim on June 14.

Prosecutors claimed Ghanim was shot six times while Radmanovic was beaten with a sledgehammer before being fatally shot. Both men have links to Melbourne’s underworld. 

Andi Hakim Lubis, a legal expert from the Medan Area University, acted as a mitigating witness for the two men. 

Mr Lubis asked the court to consider Tupou and Coskun’s claims that they hadn’t intended to kill Radmanovic, but only to ‘scare’ him over an unpaid debt. 

‘In a premeditated murder case, there should be an intention. An intention to kill the target,’ Mr Lubis said.

He asked the judge to ‘consider the intention and motivation of the suspect’ when assessing the case.

Defence lawyer Ricky Rajendar Singh claimed the testimony demonstrated the Australians ‘should not be charged with premeditated murder’.

Tupou (right) and Coskun (left) fronted court on Monday where a law expert who urged the judge to consider whether they allegedly killed with intent

The villa where Zivan Radmanovic and Sanar Ghanim were staying in Munggu, Bali

Sanar Ghanim is seen wounded at the villa following the alleged attack

The three men are tied to the alleged murder of Ivan Radmanovic (pictured with wife Jazmyn)

Mevlut Coskun (pictured) and Paea I Middlemore Tupou fronted Denpasar District Court on Monday where they argued why they should avoid the death penalty

‘The expert has also said that in modern criminal law, when the crime is not intended to take revenge, the situation is different,’ Mr Singh said.

The victims had been staying at a villa in Munggu with their partners, where Radmanovic’s wife, Jazmyn, was celebrating her 30th birthday.

Coskun and Tupou are accused of using a sledgehammer to break into the villa under the cover of darkness and attack Ghanim and Radmanovic, while Jenson allegedly prepared their getaway.

Jenson is also accused of organising the trip’s logistics in the months prior – including accommodation, car hires and scooter rentals.

Previously, it had been reported that he kept watch outside the villa. However, the court has since heard he was waiting kilometres away after being told to take the other two to Jakarta.

All three men were arrested in the days after the alleged shooting, as they attempted to flee the country. 

Prosecutors have argued the shooting was premeditated and well-coordinated, partly through the encrypted messaging app Threema. 

If convicted, the alleged killers face either life behind bars or the death penalty under Indonesian law.

Mr Singh declined to comment on whether his clients would face the death penalty, saying: ‘Let’s just wait and see how many public prosecutors demand it.’