Indonesia executes seven foreign drug convicts, defying global anger

Indonesia executed seven foreign drug convicts including two Australians by firing squad but a Filipina was spared at the 11th hour, local reports said.

Defying a firestorm of international criticism and heartrending pleas by relatives, authorities put the seven plus a local man to death after midnight Tuesday (1700 GMT), the reports said.

However the Filipina, Mary Jane Veloso, was spared after someone suspected of recruiting her and tricking her into carrying drugs to Indonesia turned herself in to authorities in the Philippines, MetroTV and the Jakarta Post reported.

Eight convicts -- two Australians, one from Brazil and four from Africa, as well as the Indonesian -- were put to death on the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan, the reports said.

In Indonesian executions, convicts are led to clearings just after midnight, tied to posts and then giving the option of kneeling, standing or sitting before being executed by 12-man firing squads.

President Joko Widodo has been a vocal supporter of the death penalty for drug traffickers, claiming Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use.

He has turned a deaf ear to appeals from the international community led by United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.

In an 11th hour bid to stop the executions, the European Union, Australia and France warned in a joint statement late Tuesday the move would have an "impact on Indonesia's position in the world and its international reputation".

In the hours before the convicts were put to death, there was a flurry of activity as ambulances carried coffins to the island, and relatives made final anguished visits to their loved ones.

Relatives of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the Australian ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" heroin trafficking group, wailed in grief as they headed to the island, and one relative collapsed amid a huge scrum of journalists.

"I am asking the government not to kill him. Call off the execution. Please don't take my son," said Sukumaran's mother Raji, in a tearful plea after visiting him.

Chan, who like Sukumaran is in his 30s, married his Indonesian girlfriend in a jailhouse ceremony with family and friends on Nusakambangan on Monday, his final wish.

The news of the temporary reprieve for Veloso, who claims she was duped into smuggling drugs into Indonesia by international drugs syndicates, comes after a huge campaign to save her in the Philippines.

President Benigno Aquino had urged Widodo on the sidelines of a summit this week to grant her clemency.

Australia to recall ambassador over Indonesia executions: PM

Sydney: Australia today took the unprecedented step of recalling its ambassador to Indonesia after two of its citizens, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, were executed for drugs offences.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the relationship with Jakarta "has suffered as a result of what's been done over the last few hours".

"We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," he told reporters.

"For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families our ambassador will be withdrawn for consultations."

Sukumaran and Chan, the ringleaders of the "Bali Nine" heroin trafficking gang, were executed by a firing squad on the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan in the early hours today, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed. They were sentenced in 2006. Five other foreign drug convicts and one Indonesian suffered the same fate.

Australia has never recalled an ambassador over a drug execution before, even during the high-profile case of 25-year-old Nguyen Tuong Van, who was put to death by Singapore in December 2005.

However, the executions were "both cruel and unnecessary", Abbott said, necessitating the "unprecedented" move to bring back Ambassador Paul Grigson.

Ties were only just recovering after sinking to their lowest point in years in late 2013 after reports that Australian spies tried to tap the phones of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his inner circle.

Jakarta recalled its ambassador from Canberra and suspended cooperation in several areas over the incident, including efforts to stop people-smuggling boats reaching Australia.

Australia's military-led efforts to turn back asylum-seeker boats also angered Indonesia, with tensions growing last year after its navy admitted entering the Southeast Asian nation's territorial waters.

With this in mind, Abbott was careful with his words, insisting "I don't want to make a difficult situation worse by offering gratuitous reflections on different aspects of the way this matter has been handled in recent days and week".

"As for President Widodo, look, he's a new president, his election was attended with great promise," he said.

"I regard myself as a friend of Indonesia, I think the vast majority of Australians regard themselves as friends of Indonesia.

"My hope is that this presidency is a successful one and while this is a dark moment in the relationship I am confident that the relationship will be restored for the great benefit of both our countries."