Bali Nine: 'Very strong' Chan and Sukumaran 'died a respectful death' says priest

Updated

Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were determined to die with dignity to avoid causing their parents unnecessary distress, according to a priest who was present when the men went to face the firing squad.

Father Charlie Burrows, who was acting as a spiritual adviser to Brazilian death row prisoner Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte, said he spoke briefly to the Australians about their rehabilitation moments before they shook hands with their warders and walked to the killing field.

"I congratulated them on their turnaround and they congratulated me on my work and that was their last words," he told 612 ABC Brisbane.

"Congratulations, you're doing a great job and congratulations, great that you've been able to turn your life around.

"I said that we pray for you and your families at this time of grief... it's a very difficult cross you have to carry."

The condemned men were tied to poles before being executed.

Father Burrows said that was to ensure the prisoners did not move around and to ensure the firing squad's aim was true.

"They were all very strong, the whole group was singing hymns ... and they chose to not be blindfolded.

"The whole idea of being strong at the execution time was to cause less suffering to the parents.

"If they heard their sons were screaming, that would really make life a lot more difficult.

"And there wasn't any screaming ... and they died a respectful death."

The men's families released a statement after the executions, saying they were immensely grateful for all the support they had received.

"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," the statement said.

Chan and Sukurmaran's bodies are now in the process of being returned to Australia for burial.

Brazilian man with schizophrenia unaware of what was happening

Father Burrows said Gularte, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, did not understand what was happening to him until his final moments.

Brazil had made repeated personal pleas for Indonesia to commute his sentence on humanitarian grounds, citing his mental illness.

Father Burrows said he thought he had prepared the Brazilian for the execution.

"I thought I'd got him ready, that he was going to be put in chains, because he didn't like being touched ... I said to him, 'well I'm 72, when you get up to heaven you'll know where I'm going to live, prepare a garden or something'," Father Burrows said.

Gularte was calm as he was handcuffed by warders but became agitated when he was handed over to police who put leg chains on him.

"I thought he'd got the message he was to be executed but ... when the chains started to go on, he said to me, 'Oh father, am I being executed?'" the priest said.

Father Burrows, who witnessed the execution of another Brazilian prisoner in January, said Gularte continued to hear voices in his final days telling him everything would be fine.

"He believes the voices more than he does anybody else," he said.

Gularte was caught entering Indonesia in 2004 with six kilograms of cocaine hidden in surf boards, and was sentenced to death in 2005.

The 42-year-old's family presented several doctors' reports to the Indonesian authorities attesting to his mental illness, and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff had made personal pleas on his behalf.

Ms Rousseff recalled Brazil's ambassador to Jakarta after the first execution in January.

Friends vow to continue fight to abolish death penalty

Friends of Chan and Sukumaran believe the last-minute reprieve granted to fellow death row prisoner Mary Jane Veloso shows Indonesia could have spared the men.

The Mercy Campaign organised vigils and events in Sydney in the run-up to the executions.

Co-founder Brigid Delaney said she and fellow campaigners were devastated that their friends had been executed.

"Obviously it's the worst case scenario for us," Ms Delaney said.

"We saw with Mary Jane Veloso that there was hope.

"It does show that [president] Widodo does have the power, or did have the power, to save all those people, but chose not to."

They are vowing to continue to fight to abolish the death penalty.

"We think the best memorial for the guys will be a continued discussion about the death penalty and more activism and more awareness about stopping the death penalty abroad," Ms Delaney said.

"Andrew said something really beautiful a couple of months before he died which was he wants Mercy to be more than about him and Myuran.

"He wants the message of Mercy to spread throughout the world."

Topics: prisons-and-punishment, law-crime-and-justice, international-law, indonesia, australia

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