Sydney - Lindsay Sandiford, the British woman on death row in Indonesia, has condemned the executions of two Australians as “senseless” and “brutal”, with the killings also drawing swift diplomatic retaliation from Australia.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were among eight drug smugglers, including seven foreigners, who were shot dead on a penal island off Java early on Wednesday, prompting an international outcry. The pair were ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine heroin-smuggling ring.
Ms Sandiford, 58, who reportedly fears she may be among the next batch of prisoners to face a firing squad, described Mr Chan, 31, and Mr Sukumaran, 34, as “reformed men - good men who transformed the lives of people around them”.
Their deaths, she said, “leave the world a poorer place”.
Convicted in 2013 of smuggling 4.8kg of cocaine from Thailand, Ms Sandiford said Mr Chan was a “close friend and confidant... [who] helped me through exceptionally difficult times after I was sentenced to death”.
On Wednesday, as the Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, denounced the executions as “a dark moment in the relationship” between Australia and its large northern neighbour, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also condemned the execution of one of her country's citizens. Four Nigerians also received the death penalty. The UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was “incomprehensible” that Indonesia - while seeking clemency for its own citizens abroad - “absolutely refuses to grant... [it] on its own territory”.
A Catholic priest described how the men sang hymns including “Amazing Grace” until gunfire rang out. All eight, who were tied to wooden crosses, declined to be blindfolded, according to Father Charles Burrows.
Mr Chan's brother, Michael, tweeted: “I have just lost a courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system.”
Indonesia shrugged off the tough words, with the Indonesian President Joko Widodo vowing to continue using the death penalty. “This is about our legal sovereignty,” he told local media.
The Independent