Indonesia has executed eight out of nine drug convicts
despite last-ditch appeals by Australia's foreign minister for
a stay of execution so that claims of corruption during the
trials of two Australian prisoners could be investigated.
The executions were carried out by firing squad at
midnight 17:00 GMT) at Besi prison on Nusakambangan
Island on Tuesday, after the inmates were given 72-hour
notice.
Over the weekend, authorities had asked the nine inmates,
two Australians, four Nigerian men, one man each from
Brazil and Indonesia and a Filipino woman for their last
wishes.
The execution of the Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, however
was delayed at the last minute after one of her recruiters
surrendered to police in the Philippines, the attorney
general's spokesman told the Reuters news agency late on
Tuesday.
"The execution of Mary Jane Veloso has been postponed
because there was a request from the Philippine president
related to a perpetrator suspected of human trafficking
who surrendered herself in the Philippines," Tony
Spontana, spokesman for the attorney general said.
"Mary Jane has been asked to testify."
Earlier, Filipino migrants had rallied in Hong Kong on behalf
of Velose - a 30-year-old mother of two whose supporters
say she was tricked into carrying a suitcase loaded with
heroin.
White coffins
The families of the Australian convicts had paid an
anguished final visit to their loved ones on Tuesday, wailing
in grief as ambulances carrying empty white coffins arrived
at the prison.
Julie Bishop, Australia's foreign minister, told media that
she had received a letter from Indonesia on Monday night
that offered no indication of a reprieve for Myuran
Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
Earlier in the day, Bishop had asked for a stay in their
executions, saying allegations in the Australian media that
their judges had requested money to commute the death
sentences were "very serious".
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that such concerns
should have been conveyed a decade ago when the case
went through the courts.
A former lawyer of the prisoners, Muhammad Rifan, told
Australia's Fairfax Media on Monday that Indonesian
judges had requested more than $100,000 in return for
prison terms of less than 20 years.
But Rifan said the judges later told him they had been
ordered by senior legal and government members in
Jakarta to impose a death penalty, so the deal fell through.
Arrested in Bali
Sukumaran and Chan were members of the so-called Bali
Nine who were arrested at the main airport on the holiday
island in April 2005 for trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin to
Australia.
The Indonesian authorities had been tipped off by
Australia's Federal Police.
The seven other members of the Bali Nine, all Australians,
have been jailed in Indonesia but do not face the death
penalty.
Armanatha Nasir, a spokesman for Indonesia's foreign
ministry, said Sukumaran and Chan had been given all the
legal avenues to challenge their death sentences.
The country's attorney-general's office said the executions
of all nine people on death row would proceed this week.
"I think it will happen this week as the preparations are 100
percent ready now," spokesman Tony Spontana said.
The prisoners were handed 72 hours' notice of their
executions on Saturday, when representatives of their
countries were also advised. Indonesia usually carries out
executions at midnight.
The other seven who were informed at the weekend that
they would face the firing squad are four Nigerians, an
Indonesian, a Brazilian and a Filipina.
Spontana said a tenth prisoner, the Frenchman Sergei
Atlaoui, would be spared for now as legal proceedings were
still under way.
Among the condemned was a Brazilian man, Rodrigo
Gularte, who has been diagnosed by Indonesian medics
with schizophrenia, a mental illness.
Gularte, 42, was arrested in 2004 at a Jakarta airport after
trying to enter the country with 6kg of cocaine hidden in a
surfboard.
He was also sentenced to death in 2005.
Prison wedding
Meanwhile, Chan, got married in the prison on Monday, his
brother Michael said after attending the wedding.
The marriage was Chan's "final wish" granted by
Indonesian prison authorities.
"Yes there was a celebration inside the prison this
afternoon with close family and friends; it's obviously a
special occasion for them," Michael said.
"Yes, look, it's tough time but it's happy time at the same
time. We just hope that the president somewhere will find
some compassion and mercy for these two, young couple
so they can carry on with their lives."
Indonesia executed six prisoners; from Brazil, Malawi,
Nigeria, Vietnam, the Netherlands, and an Indonesian
national, in January.
Source: Agencies
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