A friend of Andrew Chan has arrived at Cilacap port with 8 buckets of KFC who says they're for Chan and other inmates.

CONVICTED Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been executed by firing squad in Indonesia. Our reporters on the ground in Cilacap will bring you live updates here (All times AEST).

5.08pm — Bodies of Bali Nine duo arrive in Jakarta

The bodies of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran have arrived in Jakarta, completing the first leg of their journey home to Australia.

Once handed over to the embassy, death certificates will be issued.

The families of the two men are expected to fly out of Jakarta on Friday with the bodies. Both men will be buried in Australia.

The execution has strained relations between the two countries, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo making his first public statement since Australia announced it was withdrawing its ambassador.

“Our sovereignty must be respected,” he told reporters.

“We’re ready to respect the sovereignty of other countries as well.”

3.36pm — AFP facing questions and criticism

The Australian Federal Police will face a Senate hearing over the role it played in the arrests of the Bali Nine.

Despite a number of reviews and a Federal Court ruling in favour of the AFP, the Senate will again investigate the Bali Nine case after South Australian independent Nick Xenophon said he would raise the issue in hearings set for next month.

AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin, who was working under former commissioner Mick Keelty when the Bali Nine were arrested in 2005, last month said the AFP did not have blood on its hands.

But Brisbane-based lawyer Bob Myers, a friend of the father of Bali Nine member Scott Rush, on Wednesday insisted the AFP must bear responsibility.

“This is a black day for the AFP, a day they deliberately exposed nine Australians to the death penalty,” he said.

Mr Myers had reached out to the AFP in a bid to stop Rush leaving Australia for Bali.

Instead, the AFP sent a letter to counterparts in Indonesia on the same day Rush flew to Bali, providing details about the heroin smuggling plot, and advising Indonesian authorities to “take what action they deem appropriate”.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the involvement of the AFP had already been reviewed and the government was “satisfied that the changes that are in place were appropriate”.

“I don’t believe today is the time to look for recriminations,” Ms Bishop said.

Senator Xenophon, who has also written to federal parliament’s joint standing committee on foreign affairs to ask that the matter be examined, said it was legitimate the AFP face further scrutiny. “This is not about recriminations, it’s about making sure this never, ever happens again,” Senator Xenophon said.

2.44pm — Executed men ‘died with smiles on their faces’

Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran died ‘with smiles on their faces’, the undertaker who attended to the bodies after the execution has claimed.

Speaking to Mail Online via a translator, Suhendro Putro said the two men “had a look of happiness”.

“I think the reason why they were happy was because the pastor blessed them and brought them peace before their deaths.”

The bodies are now being taken to Jakarta, ahead of their long journey home.

2.09pm — ‘The Australians had the loudest voices’

Father Charlie Burrows, who ministers to inmates at Nusakambangan’s prison, has revealed the last moments of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s lives.

Father Burrows, an Irish-born priest, was present at the executions as the religious adviser to Brazilian Gularte, who was arrested in 2004 while trying to enter Indonesia with six kilograms of cocaine stashed in his surfing gear.

The priest said the prisoners were tied with cable ties to crosses, their arms were outstretched and legs strapped at the bottom.

The religious advisers were allowed to stay for three minutes and afterwards they were told to sit and wait in a tent nearby.

“When they were being put on the cross for execution they were singing on the crosses and we were in a tent not to far away from the execution place trying to support them,” Father Burrows said.

“The people being executed were under a kind of roof. They were probably about four metres apart,” he said.

Father Burrows said they were singing hymns and the eight advisers in the tent were singing with them.

They sang Amazing Grace a few times and he said the Australians seemed to have the loudest voices.

1.54pm — Indonesia defends executions

Indonesia’s lawyer general has defended the execution of the seven foreign drug convicts, saying that the country was facing a “war” against drugs.

“We are fighting a war against horrible drug crimes that threaten our nation’s survival,” Muhammad Prasetyo told reporters.

“I would like to say that an execution is not a pleasant thing. It is not a fun job,” Prasetyo went on.

“But we must do it in order to save the nation from the danger of drugs. We are not making enemies of counties from where those executed came. What we are fighting against is drug-related crimes.” He also played down Australia’s decision to recall its ambassador over the execution of its citizens, describing it as a “temporary reaction”.

1.02pm — Tributes grow in Martin Place

Floral tributes are being left at a makeshift memorial in Sydney’s Martin Place for the executed Bali Nine ringleaders.

It comes after a candlelight mercy vigil was held for the pair on Tuesday night just hours before they faced the firing squad.

“It’s just basic human decency,” said office worker Kate who laid flowers at the site this morning.

“They weren’t asking to be pardoned from punishment they were just asking for their basic human need to live,” she told AAP.

“I believe those boys had redeemed themselves and they were just used as political pawns.” Many passers-by paused at the memorial to read the messages left for the men.

Sydneysiders have laid flowers and tributes to Chan and Sukumaran at Martin Place. #Bali9 @AAPNewswire pic.twitter.com/CQd4t5kOU7 — Frances Mao (@francesmao) April 29, 2015

12.14pm — ‘They touched the lives of many people’

Fellow death row prisoner Lindsay Sandiford has expressed her heartfelt condolences to the families of the executed men.

The British grandmother, who is also facing death by firing squad for drugs offences in Indonesia, issued a statement after eight prisoners were executed.

“I am deeply saddened to learn that Myuran Sukumaran and my dear friend Andrew Chan have been executed today. I would like to send my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones,” she wrote.

“Many things have been said about whether Andrew and Myuran deserved to die for their crimes. “I didn’t know those men at the time they committed those crimes 10 years ago. What I can say is that the Andrew and Myuran I knew were men who did good and touched the lives of a great many people, including myself.

“Andrew in particular was a close friend and confidante to me during my time at Kerobokan prison. He counselled and helped me through exceptionally difficult times after I was sentenced to death in 2013.

“The men shot dead today were reformed men — good men who transformed the lives of people around them. Their senseless, brutal deaths leave the world a poorer place.”

11.48am — Sukumaran: ‘Find a way around their negativity’

Myuran Sukumaran’s cousin Dharminie Mani, who prayed with the condemned man during his last hours, has revealed his advice to her.

“When I spoke to Myu, he spoke about the things he was going to miss seeing, the new Avengers movie, Batman vs. Superman, Star Wars episode 7, the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight (something he really wanted to see),” Mani wrote.

“My mum and aunt had silent tears streaming down their faces as Myu smiled and joked trying to cheer them up. But that’s who Myu is, he is that friend that places himself last in order to support those around him.

“He held my sister and my hands and started giving us advice that I know I will hold onto forever.

“He told me success is cumulative. That no one wakes up successful. It takes hard work behind the scenes where no one else can see. It starts when you set yourself goals, you make sure you do something small everyday.

“He told me I was only restricted by the restrictions I placed on myself. “Don’t let people say no, find a way around their negativity.”

11.34am — Palmer calls for Bali boycott

Controversial mining magnate Clive Palmer called on all Australians to show their protest with Indonesia by cancelling trips to Bali.

“I call on all Australians to do what they can to protest over the handling of this matter in Indonesia,” Mr Palmer said.

“Whether they can cancel a holiday to Bali and come to Queensland ... or whether it’s the closing of an industrial operation.

“We can’t do much for the people that have lost their lives or their families but we can ensure that they are like a beacon of hope for those who go after them to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

The hashtags #boycottindonesia and #boycottbali have been trending on social media all morning.

Mr Palmer said he would be seeking to introduce a bill to the parliament that would legislate against public officials giving information to other countries in which the death penalty was enacted.

11.27am — ‘They were praising their God’

Reports have emerged some of the condemned prisoners sung for one another before their executions.

“They were praising their God,” Pastor Karina de Vega said.

“It was breathtaking. This was the first time I witnessed someone so excited to meet their God.”

One sung Amazing Grace in an experience Pastor Vega described as the most beautiful moment she ever experienced.

10.39am — Indonesian Embassy in talks

Staff at the Indonesian embassy in Canberra are locked in a meeting.

This follows Australia’s decision this morning to recall its ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, following the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

It is possible that Indonesia may withdraw its own ambassador Riphat Kesoema from Australia.

9.57am — ‘They passed quickly’

Chan and Sukumaran’s Australian religious advisers, David Soper and Christie Buckingham, were allowed to stay with the two men until their final minutes, praying.

It is understood the trusted advisers then moved away and did not witness the actual execution.

Media reports that the men took 27 minutes to die are wrong.

“They passed quickly,” one source said and were courageous and dignified to the end.

Indonesian officials said that the eight men were confirmed dead at 1.02am, 27 minutes after shots were fired. But that referred to the time it took to certify all eight men dead, not the amount of time it took them to die.

9.33am — Flowers left at Chan’s Sydney home

Chan’s father, Ken, had been too sick to stay in Indonesia and spent a sleepless night on Tuesday with family and friends in his Enfield home.

A close family friend kissed and hugged Ken, who left the house ashen-faced to visit the doctor on Wednesday morning.

“They’re all very tired now because they stayed up,” the family friend, who did not wish to be named, told AAP.

“It’s a heartache.”

Neighbours have been pausing as they pass by the Chan home, shaking their head and sighing before making their way to school, work or continuing on their morning walks.

One woman left a bouquet to “give the family some strength during some difficult times”.

“Death is not the right answer,” she said.

8.35am — Anguished families break silence

The Chan and Sukumaran families have released a joint written statement, expressing their gratitude and lamenting the lack of mercy shown to the men they loved.

“Today we lost Myuran and Andrew. Our sons, our brothers. 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.”

8.25am — Their final act of defiance

It has been revealed none of the eight executed prisoners wore blindfolds when they faced their 12-man firing squads.

The defiant final act was confirmed by Cilacap Catholic Priest, Father Charlie Burrows, who acted as the spiritual adviser to mentally ill Brazilian man Rodrigo Gularte and was on the killing field with the condemned group until their dying moments.

7.55am — Ambulances off execution island

The ambulances carrying the corpses of executed prisoners have arrived off the ferry from Nusakambangan Island.

Armed officers are lining the road where a huge scrum of local residents and global media are lining up to see the cars carrying the coffins of the eight executed men.

The bodies were washed and formally identified by consular officials before being loaded into the coffins and transported off the country’s execution island. The process has taken about 4.5 hours.

The ambulances will now travel to Jakarta, from where Chan’s and Sukumaran’s bodies will be repatriated.

7.40am — Abbott Government withdraws ambassador

Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop have condemned the executions as “deplorable” and “ghastly”.

Mr Abbott said Australia would withdraw its ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, in response to the “cruel and unnecessary” killings.

“Once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families, our ambassador will be withdrawn,” he said.

“Whatever people think of the death penalty ... the fact is that these two families have suffered an appalling tragedy.

“And I’m sure that ever Australians thoughts and prayers will be with those families.”

Ms Bishop said Australia’s decision to withdraw its ambassador was based on Indonesia not taking into account the prisoners’ rehabilitation.

“They were examples of hope and transformation,” she said of the condemned men.

7.30am — Mary Jane’s family returns from execution island

Mary Jane Veloso’s family members have returned from Nusakambangan Island, where the condemned drug criminal was given a last-minute reprieve.

The family members were stony faced when they arrived at Cilacap port, expressing none of the joy they felt when they heard of the “miracle” that spared Mary Jane.

7.20am — Bishop to speak in Canberra

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will make her first public statement since the early-morning executions at a press conference in Canberra this morning.

Ms Bishop yesterday said she was “deeply disturbed” by Indonesia’s handling of the matter and there “will have to be consequences”.

7.06am — Sukumaran’s family ‘devastated’

Sukumaran’s family in the UK were last night “devastated” as they searched the internet for news of their loved one’s fate.

Speaking just moments before first reports emerged confirming he and Chan had been executed, his cousin Niranjela Karunatilake said the family were struggling and “not great”.

“We’re devastated, we feel quite helpless here, we obviously just want to be with the family there at this time,” she told News Corp Australia. “Its hard at the moment it really is.”

She said the family was not hearing any news, which was distressing and had to rely on the internet for word.

The 33-year-old Londoner, who visited Sukumaran in his Indonesian cell in February, said the family had never given up hope.

They were holding onto the memory of having held an art exhibition in London, hosted by Amnesty, of his work. They knew how pleased he had been knowing his art and his deepest thoughts portrayed on canvas were being made known to others.

“It (the exhibition) went extremely well, Amnesty said it was one of the best received exhibitions they had ever held, ”Ms Karunatilake said of the art, exhibited in London last month on Sukumaran’s 34th birthday.

“I told that to his brother and mum who went to visit him and they told him.”

She said he knew his final wish was to paint as long as he could but she and the family thought one day he would be able to attend his own art show.

6.55am — How the world is covering the executions

The execution of Chan and Sukumaran is making front-page news in Australia and Indonesia. This is how the different nations’ media are covering the matter.

The story has also appeared in online editions of the Sun, BBC and New York Times.

The Jakarta Globe’s front-page editorial calls for an end to executions in Indonesia, defying the perception that the state-sanctioned murder of drug criminals is popular.

6.48am — Mary Jane’s family was going to collect body

At the time Mary Jane Veloso’s family learnt her life was being spared, some of them were on a bus on the road to Jakarta, where they would collect her body. They began shouting and jumping and calling for the bus to stop and turn around.

6am — Families could hear the gunshots

In chilling detail from Indonesia’s execution island, it has been revealed the grieving families of some condemned prisoners could hear the gunfire that killed their loved ones.

A marquee was set up for families on the opposite side of Nusakambangan Island, far away from the firing range where the eight condemned men would be killed.

But the distance failed to muffle the sound, and the already anguished family members heard the shots. Witnesses say they became distraught.

The families of Chan and Sukumaran were not on the island at the time; they were in a hotel in Cilacap nearby.

But Australia’s consul to Bali Majell Hind and the pair’s lawyer Julian McMahon were among the group.

The families of Indonesian man Zaenal Abidin and the three Nigerian prisoners were also there.

5.55am — ‘Our best hopes have been dashed’

Opposition leader Bill Shorten and Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the party condemns the execution “in the strongest possible terms”.

“Our best hopes have been dashed and our worst fears realised,” a written statement said.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to all who mourn the loss of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

“A decade ago, these two young men made a dreadful mistake.

“By all accounts they spent every minute since seeking to mend their ways and to steer others on the road to redemption. Proof the justice system could reform wrongdoers, not just punish wrongdoing.

“Yet today, they were made to pay for one stupid decision of ten years ago with their lives.”

5.15am — Australia’s reaction firms

As the nation wakes to the news that Chan and Sukumaran were killed by Indonesia’s firing squads in the early hours of the morning, Australian politicians are already responding.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will address the media later this morning. Yesterday she said she was “deeply disturbed” by Indonesia’s handling of the matter and there “will have to be consequences”.

In the months leading up to the execution, the national mood clearly favoured the convicted heroin smugglers Chan and Sukumaran, and there will likely be pressure for the Abbott Government to take a hard line against Indonesia.

5.04am — ‘Miracles do come true’

The ecstatic family of pardoned prisoner Mary Jane Veloso has called her temporary reprieve a miracle.

Speaking on Philippine radio shortly after Veloso was spared the firing squad, her mother Celia said: “Miracles do come true. We are so happy, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe my child will live.”

There is no official word from the families of the executed Australians, but a tweet from an unconfirmed account claiming to belong to Michael Chan said: “I have just lost a Courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system. I miss you already RIP my Little Brother.”

4.16am — Heartache from legal team

One of the lawyers who acted on behalf of Chan and Sukumaran has tweeted a gut-wrenching expression of defeat less than an hour after their executions.

I failed. I lost. — Todung Mulya Lubis (@TodungLubis) April 28, 2015

I am sorry — Todung Mulya Lubis (@TodungLubis) April 28, 2015

4.09am — Armed police move in

As the family of Mary Jane Veloso responds to news of her last-minute reprieve, armed police are reportedly moving into position for the transfer of coffins.

Nine cheap and badly made silk-lined coffins — each valued at around $100 — passed in an ambulance on to a ferry and over to the prison island of Nusakambangan yesterday afternoon, confirming the mass execution was in its final planning stages.

One of them had been commissioned extra large for Sukumaran.

3.52am — Australia’s politicians respond

Steven Ciobo, the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop, is the first Australian politician to respond to the execution.

He tweeted this scathing and mournful message moments ago, possibly signalling further condemnation to come when the Abbott Government officially reacts to Indonesia’s actions.

There are few greater displays of abuse of State power and regressive thinking than the death penalty. #RIP — Steven Ciobo (@steveciobo) April 28, 2015

3.43am — Executions happened ‘without disruption’

“We’ve carried out the executions,” said an Attorney General’s Office official, talking to the Jakarta Post on condition of anonymity.

An anonymous Cilacap police officer said: “The executions went well, without any disruptions,” he said.

The eight dead were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze, Ghanaian Martin Anderson.

3.31am — Shots fired, eight dead

Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are dead.

The ringleaders of the Bali Nine drug smuggling ring were mercilessly executed by an Indonesian firing squad.

At 3.25am AEST, shots were fired on the prison island where the men have spent their last days put to an end the years of appeals and pleas for clemency ignored by a nation that insists the death penalty is a deterrent to drug crime.

All of the nine young Australians caught trying to smuggle heroin to Australia a decade ago are now either dead, serving life sentences, or facing many years behind bars.

Chan and Sukumaran, executed with seven other people also convicted of drugs charges, had spent their time in prison bent on rehabilitation.

The former trained as a priest, was recently ordained and on Monday married the young woman he loved, in a prison ceremony. The latter became an accomplished painter and completed an arts degree. Both worked to rehabilitate other jail inmates.

Their executions now leave tensions high between Australia and its regional neighbour, and two families in a nightmare of interminable anguish.

3.14am — Execution looms

It is after midnight in Indonesia now. The country’s attorney-general HM Prasetyo released a statement earlier tonight saying: “Nine death row convicts will be executed tonight, later after midnight.”

3.07am — Prisoners on the move

All nine death-row prisoners have reportedly been removed from their isolation cells to the firing range where they will die, according to Indonesia’s TVOne.

2.49 — Condemned prisoners moved

Chan and Sukumaran have been moved from their cells to Tunggal Panaluan, the execution ground where they will face the firing squad.

On Cilacap, the port town near Indonesia’s execution island, a throng of media wait to hear the fatal shots fired.

The song Hallelujah played in the crowd as emotion swelled ahead of the looming execution.

2.30am — Final preparations in place

The execution ground, where the nine prisoners will be shot dead, is now floodlit in readiness.

2.20am — Australia’s consul to receive bodies

Australia’s Consul to Bali, Majell Hind will receive the bodies of Chan and Sukumaran and sign for legal responsibility at a port on Nusakambangan.

Ambulances carrying the coffins will then be transported on a boat to the Wijayapura port at Cilacap.

From here they will be driven directly to Jakarta. An Australian consular officer, in a separate car, will accompany the ambulances on the 10 hour journey to Jakarta.

Ms Hind will then travel back to a hotel, where the families have waited, to notify them the executions have taken place.

Julian McMahon, the men’s lawyer, and another lawyer, are also on the island with Ms Hind, waiting at a designated marquee set up for families and those who will take custody of the bodies.

Ms Hind and the lawyers travelled to Nusakambangan earlier in the evening.

Ministers David Soper and Christie Buckingham are with the two men for their final hours but will not witness the actual executions.

1.48am — Marquee set up for families on execution island

A waiting area for families of the condemned prisoners has been set up on Nusakambangan Island, far away from where their loved ones will be killed.

Relatives of Indonesian prisoner Zainal Abidin, Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami and Filipina Mary Jane Veloso are among those gathered under the marquee.

After the executions are carried out, they will identify and take custody of the bodies.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’s family has opted not to wait on the island and will instead leave the identification process to Australian officials.

After the executions are carried out, they will identify and take custody of the bodies.

The families of Chan and Sukumaran have opted not to wait on the island and will instead leave the identification process to Australian officials.

12.30am — Indonesia announces time for execution

Indonesia’s Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that the executions of Chan, Sukumaran and seven other prisoners will take place after midnight local time on Nusakambangan Island.

This is the first time the government has confirmed the executions, after days of speculation.

Chan and Sukumaran have been allowed a religious adviser of their choosing despite initially being denied them by Indonesian authorities yesterday.

Authorities have now agreed that two Australian ministers will be allowed to accompany the men in their final hours.

It is not clear what time the two ministers — David Soper and Christie Buckingham — will be asked to leave Nusakambangan before the executions but they will not be with them in their final moments as they are strapped to wooden planks and shot. Two Indonesian pastors have been appointed to that role.

A new convoy of police and military cars also arrived at the port at Cilacap.