Indonesia executes 2 Australians
Along with Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, the other six to be shot were one Indonesian, a Brazilian and four Nigerians. All were executed by firing squad on Nusa Kambangan island, where executions by firing squad have been taking place since 1964.
Multiple reports say all eight men refused blindfolds and stared at their firing squads singing “Bless the Lord O My Soul.” The Sydney Morning Herald was the first to report how they died, saying each continued to sing until “their song was cut off by the crack of gunfire.” A priest who attended one of the executions was the source of that information.
A Filipino woman, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, 30, was given a stay of execution and Indonesia is allowing the Philippines to investigate her story. The single mother of two boys said she thought she was flying from Malaysia to Indonesia in 2009 to take a job as a maid, insisting she was unaware the lining of her suitcase had 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) sewn into it.
All eight men executed were killed simultaneously at eight different but near to one another sites. Each faced a firing squad of 13, of which only three had live ammunition to prevent it being known who fired the fatal shots. Within three minutes of the execution time all had been checked and declared dead, officials said.
“The executions have been successfully implemented, perfectly,” Indonesia’s Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo told a press conference Wednesday morning. “All worked, no misses.”
Prime Minister Blair: ambassador recalled
International reaction has been to condemn the executions and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot said his country’s ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, will be withdrawn; he did not say for how long.
While Abbot did not threaten to withdraw any of the $600-plus million in aid his country sends to Indonesia each year — the second largest total behind Japan — Foreign Minister Julie Bishop did make such a suggestion. There have calls by Australians for a reduction but Abbot said Indonesia, which has a population 10 times greater than Australia’s 24 million, will become an important trading ally as time goes on.
Abbot called the executions “both cruel and unnecessary” and while admitting drug smuggling was a serious offence, he said a lengthy prison sentence would have been appropriate.
But Prasetyo said his country is being inundated with drug problems and the executions are a necessary deterrent. He does not consider the reaction of Australia, or any other country, to be of consequence. “It’s just a momentary reaction,” he said. “What we’re doing is carrying out court decisions.”
Chan and Sukumaran, who never tried to import drugs into Indonesia, only to export them, have received a great amount of press due to Australia protesting so vehemently about their sentence, and because both have reformed dramatically during their decade in prison.
Sukumaran became a role model for fellow prisoners and he taught English, computers and art, running a prison art room and becoming an accomplished artist. Days before his execution his final painting, a self-portrait that had a black, bloody hole in place of his heart, was signed by all convicts on death row and taken from the prison by a friend.
Chan studied theology for six years and was ordained as a minister in February. Three days before his death he married Febyanti Herewila, also a pastor, whom he met while she was helping inmates at the Bali island prison where Chan was incarcerated.
Families of prisoners react
These were the other six to die: Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte and Nigerians Martin Anderson, Sylvester Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze and Raheem Agbaje Salami. Each were caught with heroin or cocaine. Salami, arrested in 1998, was incarcerated the longest.
The families of Chan and Sukumaran, who each had members who traveled to Indonesia to plead for mercy for their loved ones, issued a joint statement on their deaths Wednesday.
“Today we lost Myuran and Andrew. Our sons, our brothers,” the statement reads. “In the 10 years since they were arrested they did all they could to make amends, helping many others. They asked for mercy, but there was none. They were immensely grateful for all the support they received.
“We too will be forever grateful.”
