WITH heavy hearts we report the disappointing news: Indonesia has executed two young Australians overnight.
And Australian’s politicians have responded.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has labelled the executions “cruel” and “unnecessary” at a press conference with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop this morning and has confirmed Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Paul Grigson, will be withdrawn.
“Australia respects the Indonesian system, we respect Indonesia’s sovereignty, but we do deplore what’s been done and this cannot be simply business as usual,” said Abbott.
“For that reason, once all the courtesies have been extended to the Chan and Sukumaran families our ambassador will be withdrawn.”
“I was in contact with the families overnight. They are in a devastating position,” said Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop who claims the government has not received formal confirmation from the Indonesian government that the executions have taken place.
“Our concern centres on the fact that the apparent rehabilitation of Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran was not taken into account. Rehabilitation is a fundamental aspect of successful prison systems.
“[Chan and Sukumaran] were examples of the hope and transformation that can come about through reflection, rehabilitation and remorse.. their deaths at this time are senseless and unnecessary.”
Ms Bishop said the bodies of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be brought back to Australia.
The hashtag #BoycottIndonesia is trending online this morning, with many Australians both mourning the loss of two of our own and rallying for change.
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran , who were just 21 and 24 respectively when they were convicted of drug trafficking in Bali, were shot through the heart at twenty-five minutes after midnight, Indonesian time (around 3:25am, Australian time.)
News Ltd reports that the two men – both members of the so-called Bali Nine – left their cells at 3:07am, and walked calmly toward a floodlit killing field, to join six others (a seventh – the only woman – was spared; more below.)
The group of eight prisoners were strapped to timber crosses, and waited as more than 30 rifles aimed in their direction.
Their families were in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer when the shots rang out.
The prisoners were dressed in white, with target pinned above their hearts.
Their bodies were left to lay on the ground while surgeons sewed up holes in their chests, before placing them into crudely-made satin coffins, for transportation off the execution island, back to Bali.
Outside, and across the globe, melancholy crowds sung Hallelujah.
Andrew and Myu, as he was known, were executed not for the crime of murder, but for a clumsy drug trafficking operation.
The drugs were bound not for Indonesia, but for Australia, where fully half the population freely admits to having tried an illegal drug at some stage in their lives.
They worked hard in prison to rehabilitate themselves and others but pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears.
Filipino mother-of-two, Mary Jane Veloso was spared at the 11th hour.
In other news you may have missed…
A YEAR-LONG campaign of pleas and tears did not save the two Australians on death row in Indonesia, but it did save the life of a Filipino mother-of-two, Mary Jane Veloso, who was granted an 11th hour reprieve.
Mary Jane’s plight captured the attention of human rights workers across the globe, who say that she is a victim of human trafficking.
A campaign to save her life reached Twitter earlier this week, with the name Mary Jane starting to trend from Monday.
On Tuesday, the world-famous boxer, Manny Pacquiao, who is due to fight Floyd Mayweather, in the richest bout in history next week, pleaded with President Joko Widodo directly to halt her execution.
“I am begging and knocking on your kind heart that Your Excellency will grant executive clemency to her by sparing her life and saving her life from execution,” he said.
Mary Anne’s supporters have said she was travelling to Indonesia in the hope of getting work as a maid.
She has always said she was innocent of drug trafficking and appealed on the basis she wasn’t able to defend herself at trial because she didn’t have a qualified translator for her native language, Tagalog.
In a final statement, her sister said that Mary Jane had told her sons, Darren and David, to remember her fondly, and not as a prisoner, but as a young woman with a pure heart. Then, at the 11th hour, she was reprieved.
THOSE desperate for a bit of good news on this terrible day, well, there’s this: a young woman, Rachelle Friedman Chapman, who was paralyzed when her bridesmaid playfully pushed her into a pool on her hen’s night five years ago has become a mum.
Rachelle never blamed her friend for the accident which left her with spinal damage, saying it was just bad luck. Rachelle uses a wheelchair for mobility, and has only limited use of her fingers.
She carried on with her plan to get married, but was told that it would be risky to have a baby because her injury left her with dangerously low blood pressure. Then, about a year ago, she discussed her desire to have a baby on Facebook, and a friend from college came forward, offering to be a surrogate.
In news to warm the heart, the plan worked. Baby Kaylee Rae Chapman was born happy and healthy, earlier this week. She joins Rachelle’s ‘fur-kids’ – the much loved family dogs, Peedee and Roger.
IN news elsewhere, the town of Baltimore is this morning mopping up after riots that saw shops and cars burnt.
The riots were in response to the death of a black man, who was in police custody.
Freddie Gray died a terrible death after attempting to run away from police earlier this this month. Footage shows him being shoved into the back of police van, despite the fact that his back appeared to have been broken.
Mr Gray is believed to have suffered a spinal cord injury while being detained. His family has said that 80 percent of his spinal cord was severed, and that his larynx had been crushed.
THE United States Supreme Court has begun hearing a case to decide what has been described as the civil rights question of the 21st century: whether same sex couples have the right to marry.
The New York Times reports that the court – which has previously ruled on thorny questions concerning abortion and the death penalty – is due to make its decision in coming months.
The Times says the bench is divided, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy expressing qualms about ‘excluding gay families from what he called a noble and sacred institution.’
On the other hand, he has also said the definition of marriage “has been with us for millennia.”
“It’s very difficult for the court to say, ‘Oh, we know better,’ ” he said.
