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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Indonesia executions: Brazilian was 'unaware until end'


A Brazilian man executed in Indonesia for drug smuggling did not know that he was going to die, says his priest.
Father Charlie Burrows has said that Rodrigo Gularte was hearing voices and did not understand that he was to be shot by firing squad until the end.
Gularte had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Seven foreigners and one Indonesian were executed on Wednesday, sparking a diplomatic outcry.

Hearing voices

Father Charlie Burrows said he had tried to prepare Gularte for his execution but that the Brazilian had not realised what was happening to him until his final moments.
"I had time to get him ready because he had to be put in chains, because he doesn't like being touched," he told ABC News Australia.
"He started to get the message, and when the chains started going on he said to me, 'Oh no, oh Father, am I being executed?'"
Father Burrows said that Gularte had been hearing voices in his final days that had promised him that everything would be fine.
"He believes the voices more than he does anybody else," he said.
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Hugo Bachega, BBC Brasil

A woman displays a photograph of executed Brazilian drug convict Rodrigo Gularte at the hospital morgue in Jakarta on April 29, 2015.
Gularte's cousin told the BBC that the Brazilian was "delusional"
One of Gularte's last requests was that he be buried in Brazil so that "if he was resuscitated" he would be close to his family, a Brazilian diplomat who met him told the BBC.
The diplomat said that this was further evidence of Gularte's poor mental health.
A cousin who visited him regularly in prison said that Gularte was delusional.
She said his favourite topics were "his past lives in Egypt and other surreal stories that never happened".
Gularte claimed that the water and food at the prison were contaminated and was constantly seen talking to walls and ghosts, the cousin said.
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Ricky Gunawan, Gularte's Indonesian lawyer, told the BBC that his execution was "outrageous".
"Indonesia has closed its eyes and ears and just wanted to execute him regardless of the plausible evidences we had to avoid the execution."
Brazil had asked the Indonesian government to spare Gularte on the grounds that he was severely mentally ill.

'Deep regret'

He was the second Brazilian to be executed for drug smuggling in Indonesia in four months.
Earlier, Brazil described the latest execution was "a serious event in the relations between the two countries".
Gularte, 42, was arrested in 2004 for trying to smuggle cocaine into Indonesia hidden in surfing gear.
Filipino protesters hold placards protesting the planned execution of Mary Jane Veloso in Makati, Philippines, 24 April 2015
Family, friends and foreign diplomats appealed for the death sentences to be overturned
Wednesday's executions have been heavily criticised by the international community.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep regret" over the incident.
In a statement, Mr Ban said the death penalty had "no place in the 21st Century" and urged Indonesia to spare all other death row prisoners.
Among those killed, were two Australian men - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
Australia, a key ally of Indonesia, has recalled its ambassador in protest.
Nigeria has also expressed "deep disappointment" at the execution of four of its nationals.

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