Brazilian Executed in Indonesia Unaware He Was About to Face Firing Squad, Claims Priest

One of the eight people executed in Indonesia early Wednesday morning for drug trafficking did not know he was about to meet his end until his final moments, a priest who served as the convict's spiritual adviser told Australia's ABC radio on Thursday.

Brazilian Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, did not understand what was happening to him, Father Charlie Burrows, a local priest who accompanied Gularte in his final hours, told ABC.

Burrows said Gularte was calm as he was handcuffed by warders but became visibly frightened when jail guards put leg chains on him.

"I thought he'd got the message he was to be executed but ... when the chains started to go on, he said to me, 'Oh father, am I being executed?'," Burrows said.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff had made repeated personal pleas to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to commute his sentence on humanitarian grounds, citing his mental illness. But Widodo dismissed the plea as well as those of other world leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Following the executions, Ban voiced "deep regret" at Indonesia's decision. "The Secretary-General expresses deep regret at the executions carried out in Indonesia on April 29 despite numerous calls in the country and internationally for a reprieve," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. "He again urges the government to exercise its authority and commute all death sentences."

"The secretary-general reaffirms his belief that the death penalty has no place in the 21st century," he added.

Widodo was unmoved by the pleas. There would be no mercy for any of the 64 drug criminals on death row, he said, calling the death penalty "shock therapy."

Aside from Gularte, those executed were Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan of Australia, Silvester Obieke Nwolise and Raheem Agbaje Salami of Nigeria, Martin Anderson of Ghana and Zainal Abidin of Indonesia. They were executed by firing squad at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Nusakambangan prison near Cilacap, Central Java.

Mary Jane Veloso of the Philippines, who was scheduled to be executed, was granted a reprieve after her alleged recruiter surrendered in Manila and pleas from Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.

Serge Atlaoui, a Frenchman also won a temporary reprieve.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott slammed the execution of the two Australians and ordered the recall of Ambassador Paul Gibson from Indonesia.

"We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," said Abbott, according to Reuters. "I want to stress that this is a very important relationship between Australia and Indonesia but it has suffered as a result of what's been done over the last few hours."

Brazil's foreign ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying that it was evaluating ties with Indonesia.

"Given the lack of a satisfactory reply to our appeals, this has to be evaluated to decide what attitude we will adopt towards Indonesia from now on," said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergio Franca Danese.

This was the second time since January that a Brazilian was executed by firing squad in Indonesia.

In sharp contrast, the Philippine government thanked Indonesian President Widodo for granting reprieve to Veloso, who was convicted for smuggling 2.6 kilos of heroin from Malaysia to Yogyakarta in April 2010.

"The Philippine government thanks President Widodo and the Indonesian government for giving due consideration to President Aquino's appeal that Mary Jane Veloso be given a reprieve," said the Philippine government. "Such reprieve provides an opportunity for the perpetuation of her testimony that could shed light on how a criminal syndicate duped her into being an unwitting accomplice or courier in their human and drug trafficking activities. We also thank the Filipino people for their prayers and for keeping vigil for Mary Jane's cause."

However, an Indonesian government statement clarified that Veloso's death sentence remains and that her execution was just postponed pending the filing of case and eventual conviction of the drug trafficker involved in the case.