(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
The bodies of eight men, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, have left the Indonesian island where they were executed.
Indonesian media reports say the executions took place just after 3:30am Australian Eastern Standard Time.
But a woman also scheduled to face the firing squad has been given a reprieve.
Manny Tsigas reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
A ferry arrives at the port city of Cilacap transporting ambulances from the prison island of Nusakambangan.
As they slowly make their way through a bustling media scrum, coffins with wooden crosses are seen inside.
Australian consular staff are in a car travelling with the ambulances.
And so the bodies of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran begin their journey home.
Pastor Christie Buckingham was with the men during their final moments and later sent a text message to her husband, Rod, in Melbourne.
It said Chan and Sukumaran had conducted themselves with dignity and strength until the end and as they walked onto the killing field they were singing songs of praise.
Another religious counsellor, Charlie Burrows, says all eight had refused blindfolds before they were shot.
Chan and Sukumaran's families have since released a statement.
It reads: "Today we lost Myuran and Andrew. Our sons, our brothers. In the ten 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 members of the so-called Bali Nine had been sentenced to death in 2006 after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin into Australia.
Journalist Mark Davis has covered the case since 2010 and met Chan and Sukumaran on numerous occassions.
Just moments after reports of their death had come through his response during an interview with the ABC was emotional, but blunt.
"It's a disgrace in my view. For all the people, and there were a good number of Australians cheering on the application of Indonesian law leading to their deaths, those people may have some satisfaction, but I think the bulk of Australians will be disgusted and not just saddened. Like I said earlier I was ready to be saddened, but I was not ready to be angered. This is a huge injustice."
One of Chan and Sukumaran's lawyers, Peter Morrissey, has told the ABC Indonesia did not give individual consideration to their case.
"The fact is that there were two good processes underway. There was terrible corruption at the start of this case. And, in terms of the Constitutional Court matter, well, President Widodo didn't give individual consideration to our two boys. They were just shot as part of the mass mob."
Meanwhile Brazil has expressed its dismay at the execution of Rodrigo Gularte, one of the six others who faced the firing squad.
Gularte was arrested in 2004 while trying to enter Indonesia with six kilograms of cocaine stashed in his surfing gear.
Brazil's foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, says his country did everything humanly possible to persuade the Indonesian government.
(Translated)"President Dilma Rousseff sent six letters to the current and former presidents of Indonesia. Former President Lula also contacted him by phone during his term. We made many attempts to intervene because we consider this a humanitarian issue. It was proven that Gularte was ill. He suffered from schizophrenia. We never contested the accusation nor the judicial process. We respect Indonesia's sovereignty, but we contested the application of this sentence on humanitarian grounds."
But the Philippines has confirmed that the only woman due to be executed, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, has been spared for now.
She was sentenced to death in 2010 for attempting to smuggle more than two a half kilos of heroin into Indonesia.
The mother of two has insisted she was duped into unknowingly acting as a drug mule.
Now, she needs to testify against a woman who's turned herself in to Filipino police, claiming to be the ringleader of the narcotics operation that Mary Jane Veloso was accused of being part of.
Cristina Palabay, a spokeswoman for human rights group Karapatan, says they're elated by that decision.
"We are overjoyed with the fact that Mary Jane Veloso lives and this is all because of the efforts of the Filipino people and the international community who have been with Mary Jane, her family and the Filipino people all throughout."
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