They were killed by firing squad on Tuesday.
However, execution of a woman Filipino was postponed at the last minute.
The Fillipino was spared after a woman accused of tricking her into carrying drug, turned herself to the police in Philippines Tuesday.
The four Nigerians included Martins Anderson, 50, who was charged with possession of heroin, and Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, also charged for smuggling heroin.
Jamiu Abashin, 50, was also executed for smuggling heroin, while Sylvester Nwolise, 42, was also executed for the same offence.
Other convicts who were executed were 34-year-old Australian, Myruan Sukumaran, 31 year-old Australian, Andrew Chan, charged for smuggling heroin, and 41 year-old Brazilian, Rodrigo Gularte, 42, who was convicted for smuggling cocaine.
Mary Jane Veloso
(temporary reprieve)
Veloso, aged 30, from the Philippines, was arrested in
Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2010 and found to be carrying a suitcase packed with
2.2kg (5lb) of heroin. Painted in court as a knowing drugs courier, she was
sentenced to death. But her supporters say that poverty had made her
susceptible to people traffickers, who promised her a job as a maid in Malaysia
but instead made her an unwitting drug mule.
On Tuesday the woman who recruited Veloso for that job, Maria
Kristina Sergio, “voluntarily surrendered” to police in the Philippine province
of Nueva Ecija. She was wanted on charges of illegal recruitment and human
trafficking.
An intervention by the Philippine president, Benigno Aquino
raised hopes that his Indonesian counterpart, Joko Widodo, might be sympathetic
to her case. However, the attorney general said the execution would go ahead.
Veloso has two sons, aged 12 and six. Her sister, Marites
Veloso-Laurente, said their mother had had to explain to them “If Mumma does
not go home, just think Mumma is in heaven.”
Andrew Chan
Chan was arrested in Denpasar in April 2005, on a flight
bound for Australia. A 22-year-old still living with his parents in western
Sydney, he was carrying no drugs, but was found guilty, along with Myuran
Sukumaran, of masterminding a drug smuggling ring and recruiting seven other
Australians – the so-called Bali Nine. He was found guilty and sentenced to
death by firing squad.
In his time on Indonesia’s death row, those who have been in
contact with him say he is an utterly changed man. Now 31, he has become a
committed Christian and a pastor, and spends much of his day in prayer or
religious study, and counselling other prisoners.
On the eve of his execution Chan married his Indonesian
girlfriend, Febyanti Herewila, in a ceremony on Nusa Kambangan, the prison
island where he awaits the firing squad. His brother, Michael Chan, described
leaving him after a final visit on Tuesday as “torture”.
Myuran Sukumaran
Arrested with Chan in 2005, Sukumaran, then 24, had also been
living with his parents in Sydney, working in a mailroom. In his time in
prison, he has become an accomplished artist, and his final painting – a heart
dripping with blood, signed by all nine condemned prisoners – was removed from
Nusa Kambangan by Indonesian officials on Tuesday.
Chinthu Sukumaran, brother of Myuran, who spoke of behalf of
his family after returning from Nusa Kambanang for what is expected to be the
final time, said: “We did talk about the death penalty and he knows this is
just a waste. He knows this is not going to solve anything with drugs.
“Drug trafficking will still be there. If these nine people
die today, tomorrow, next week, next month, it is still not going to stop
anything. I ask the president to please show mercy. Please don’t let my mum and
my sister have to bury my brother. Please, I ask the Indonesian people to show
mercy.”
Rodrigo Gularte
Rodrigo Gularte, who has twice been diagnosed with
schizophrenia, is set to be the second Brazilian to be shot by firing squad in
Indonesia this year.
The Brazilian foreign ministry has declared the death
sentence “unacceptable” and “contrary to the common sense and basic standards
of human rights protection” in a letter sent on Monday to the government in
Jakarta.
Gularte, who is from a wealthy family in the state of Paraná
, was arrested at Jakarta airport in 2004 with 6kgs of cocaine secreted in a
surfboard.
His lawyers have argued unsuccessfully that his history of
mental illness made him unfit to stand trial. Gularte was first diagnosed with
a mental illness in 1982, according to medical documents obtained by his legal
team. Last year, doctors confirmed the schizophrenia diagnosis. Indonesia’s
attorney general ordered a second opinion from police doctors, but this has not
been made public, prompting criticism of the lack of transparency.
His cousin Angelita Muxfeldt, who is in Indonesia, said
Gularte has asked to be buried in Brazil. “I’ve been here for three months and
never seen Rodrigo so calm,” she told the domestic media.
Martin Anderson
Anderson was sentenced to death in 2004 after being found
guilty of possessing about 50g (1.8oz) of heroin. The 50-year-old travelled to
Indonesia on a false passport and was thought to be Ghanian, but is in fact –
like three of his fellow prisoners – from Nigeria.
He was reportedly shot in the leg during his arrest. His
lawyer told the media that he has been in poor spirits since being moved to Nusa
Kambangan to face execution.
Raheem Agbaje Salami
(also known as Jamiu Owolabi Abashin)
Abashin, 50, has said he was homeless in Bangkok when a new
“friend” offered him $400 to take some clothes to Indonesia. He was arrested in
Surabaya with 5.5kg (12lb) of heroin and originally sentenced, in 1999, to life
in prison.
The sentence was changed to one of death in 2006. In an
appeal for presidential clemency, Abashin admitted he had known he was carrying
the drugs. His appeal was unsuccessful.
Silvester Obiekwe
Nwolise
Nwolise, 47, was convicted in 2002 of smuggling just over a
kilogram of heroin into Indonesia. He was sentenced to death.
His wife said he believed he was carrying tablets – which he
swallowed – containing goat horn powder for some Nigerian friends in Pakistan.
She also said he had no translator during his trial, and there are allegations
that a bribe was sought to spare him a death sentence.
Okwuduli Oyatanze
Oyatanze, 41, was sentenced to death in 2002, found guilty of
attempting to bring 2.5kg of heroin through Jakarta in capsules inside his
stomach.
Charles Burrows, a Catholic priest who has counselled
Oyatanze in prison, says that the Nigerian man, following the collapse of his
clothing company, had thought being a drugs mule would be “easy money”.
Zainal Abidin
Abidin, 50, an Indonesian, was moved to Nusa Kambangan in
preparation for execution despite still having an appeal due to be heard by the
courts. He was convicted in 2001 of being the ringleader of a plan to sell
marijuana, which he denies.
Two men convicted with Abidin, who he claims were the real
masterminds of the ring, have served prison sentences and are now free.
Serge Atlaoui
(temporary reprieve)
Atlaioui, from France, was due to be executed this week, but
it has been delayed pending a legal challenge. He was arrested for working in a
factory used to produce ecstasy. He claims he was working as a welder and was
unaware of the illegal activity.
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