Indonesia executes seven foreign drug convicts

Cilacap, Indonesia: Indonesia early Wednesday 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". (AFP)