CILACAP: In defiance of massive international criticism, the Indonesian authorities went ahead early on Wednesday with the execution of seven drug criminals by firing squad.
Among the executors two were Australians, one Brazilian, four Africans and one Indonesian.
A Filipina woman Mary Jane Veloso, who was set to suffer the same punishment was however spared at the 11th hour.
The Philippine government expressed delight at the reprieve for Veloso, whose case attracted emotive appeals for mercy from boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao among others.
Authorities put the seven plus a local man to death after midnight (1700 GMT Tuesday) on the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan in central Indonesia.
“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“For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families our ambassador will be withdrawn for consultations.”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 heroin-trafficking gang, were described as reformed men after years in prison by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
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.
There was swift condemnation of the executions, with Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, labeling them “utterly reprehensible”.
France on Wednesday also condemned the executions in Indonesia of seven foreign drug convicts and said it remained concerned about the fate of a Frenchman, Serge Atlaoui, also on death row in Indonesia.
The government “reiterates its opposition to the death sentence, in all cases and all circumstances,” said French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal.
French President Francois Hollande has warned that Indonesia would face diplomatic “consequences” if it pushed ahead with the execution of Atlaoui over drug trafficking offenses.
However, with all that pressure from the international community, President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, has been a vocal supporter of the death penalty for drug traffickers, claiming Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use.
He rejected all the appeals from International community including United Nation’s chief Ban Ki- moon.
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