News: Bali Nine Australian Pair Executed By Firing Squad

Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been executed by firing squad, despite frantic appeals from families and Australian officials to spare the pair.

The Jakarta Post, quoting an Attorney General's Office official, says eight of the nine prisoners on death row have been shot dead in Indonesia.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the Philippines was spared.

The nine inmates were given 72-hour notices over the weekend that they would be executed by a firing squad, prompting a flurry of last-minute lobbying by foreign leaders. The United Nations has argued that their crimes " possession of heroin, marijuana or cocaine " are not egregious enough to warrant the ultimate punishment.

Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo announced the executions would take place after midnight. The relatives were allowed to visit with the inmates until 8 p.m., said Tony Spontana, Prasetyo's spokesman.

Source (and the full story): NZ Herald