Indonesia executes 8 drug convicts, Filipina spared (Updated)

Latest: First details of execution revealed. Indonesia executed one local man and seven foreign drug convicts including two Australians by firing squad Wednesday, causing Canberra to withdraw its ambassador over the "cruel" punishment.

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Afternoon update

The first details of the execution process have emerged:

JAKARTA, DPA – The fight drug convicts executed in Indonesia refused blindfolds as they faced the firing squad in the early hours of Wednesday, a news report said.

The prisoners joined in a chorus of Amazing Grace just after midnight as they were executed, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing Pastor Karina de Vega who accompanied them.

The eight were shot the "same second, same minute," Indonesia's Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo was quoted as saying by CNN Indonesia. Earlier reports said the executions were carried out at 12.34am.

The prisoners were "executed, bathed and put in coffins," he said in Cilacap, near the Nusakambangan prison island where the executions were carried out.

Indonesia executes foreign drug convicts, defying global anger

Cilacap, Indonesia, April 28, 2015, AFP –  Indonesia executed seven foreign drug convicts including two Australians by firing squad Wednesday, causing Canberra to withdraw its ambassador over the "cruel" punishment.

Authorities put the seven plus a local man to death after midnight on the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan in central Indonesia, but a Filipina was spared at the 11th hour.

"We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families our ambassador will be withdrawn for consultations."

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" heroin-trafficking gang, were described as reformed men after years in prison by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who joined Abbott at a press conference in Canberra.

Australia had mounted a sustained campaign to save its citizens, who have been on death row for almost a decade, with the prime minister repeatedly appealing for them to be spared.

Australia has never recalled an ambassador over a drug execution before, but the punishments were "both cruel and unnecessary", Abbott said, necessitating the "unprecedented" move to bring back Ambassador Paul Grigson.

In a statement, the families said their sons did "all they could to make amends, helping many others" in the years since their arrests, with Sukumaran teaching fellow inmates English and art, and Chan ordained as a minister in February.

"They asked for mercy, but there was none. They were immensely grateful for all the support they received. We too, will be forever grateful."

The Philippine government expressed delight at the late reprieve for Mary Jane Veloso, whose case attracted emotive appeals for mercy from boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao among others.

"The Lord has answered our prayers," Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said, as activists holding a vigil in front of the Indonesian embassy in Manila broke into cheers and hugged each other.

Veloso was spared after someone suspected of recruiting her and tricking her into carrying drugs to Indonesia turned herself in to authorities in the Philippines.

"Miracles do come true," her mother Celia told a Philippine radio station, adding that her daughter's two young boys were awake and yelling "Yes, yes mama will live".

The other foreigners executed were one from Brazil and four from Africa.

Three of the African traffickers are confirmed as being from Nigeria. However it is not clear whether the fourth holds Ghanaian or Nigerian nationality.

The execution of the Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, has generated much criticism in his homeland, with his family saying he should not have faced the firing squad because he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Gularte's cousin was observed leaving the port crying, accompanied by a religious counsellor.

President Joko Widodo has been a vocal supporter of the death penalty for drug traffickers, claiming Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use.

He has turned a deaf ear to appeals from the international community, led by United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.

Amnesty International condemned the executions as "utterly reprehensible" in a statement from research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Rupert Abbott.

Following the executions, ambulances carried coffins away from the island where the men were put to death, with some shrouded in embroidery and others made of plain wood, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Australia's consul general to Bali, Majell Hind, who took custody of the bodies of Chan and Sukumaran, was seen departing the Cilacap port with other consular officials in a heavily tinted van.

Hind was tasked with delivering the news of the executions to the Chan and Sukumaran families, who are staying at a nearby hotel.

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