Bali: Indonesia's attorney-general says preparations for the execution of Bali nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are "90 per cent ready", revealing that 10 felons will face a firing squad in the next round of killings.

And it appears that three Indonesian murderers on death row have been taken off the list of those to be killed, while two Nigerians drug offenders have been added to it.

The decision comes as Indonesia rejects mounting international pressure to rethink its plans for the mass executions, entreaties it has steadfastly rejected as an affront to the country's sovereignty.

Among those to be killed are Chan and Sukumaran, as well as Rodrigo Gularte, the Brazilian man who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

H.M. Prasetyo, the attorney-general, said the commitment to carry through with the executions of the 10 men was "final".

In an SMS exchange with Fairfax Media, his spokesman Tony Spontana said those to be executed were "all narcotics cases".

What about plans by the Australians' lawyers  to appeal the court verdict handed down on Tuesday which found the court could not overturn the Indonesian president's rejection of the pair's bid for mercy?

"I believe it will have no effect."

One of Chan and Sukumaran's lawyers on Wednesday "begged" Indonesia to rethink its seemingly implacable desire to carry through with the executions on Nusakambagan, an island in central Java..

""I am pleading with the president and the attorney-general; I am begging the president and the attorney-general not to be distracted by arguments about sovereignty and the exercise of power. We fully understand and respect those things," lawyer Julian McMahon said.

"This case really is about humanity and humanity crosses borders, humanity is not constrained by sovereignty."

Chan and Sukumaran were organisers of an operation to bring 8.3 kilos of heroin to Australia. They were arrested in 2005, sentenced to death in 2006, but they have transformed their lives and introduced many rehabilitation programs in Kerobokan prison.

Another of the duo's lawyers urged the Indonesian government to "respect the rule of law" and postpone any executions until they have explored all legal remedies to spare the lives of the men.

"There's no way the attorney-general can ignore the legal process. He has to respect the legal process because Indonesia is a state-based on law," said Todung Mulya Lubis on Wednesday after visiting Kerobokan prison in Bali, where the pair are incarcerated.

The comments pick up similar arguments, albeit to make an entirely different point, that were put by Indonesia's president Joko Widodo, who says the country must proceed because Indonesia is a sovereign nation based on law.

"The first thing I need to say firmly is that there shouldn't be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law," Mr Joko said on Tuesday.

Mr Todung said his clients remained hopeful they would not be killed. He said he would likely wait until the end of the mandated two-week period to lodge the appeal. It would then take "two or three days" for the court to examine its submissions.

"I'm still optimistic we have strong legal grounds," he said.

As for the timing of the executions, Mr Spontana said there was no date yet.

Ulung Sampurna Jaya,  the police chief in Cilacap, the port town close to Nusakambagan said: "Up to now, we have not increased security. There is no information yet, on when the execution will take place."

with Amilia Rosa