Despite world pressure and plea from UN Secretary General-Ban Ki Moon and several others, Indonesia has proceeded to execute 8 out of 9 drug smugglers and dealers who were on death row—in its tough anti-drug operations.

According to reports, reformed Bali Nine ringleaders-Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were killed by an Indonesian firing squad shortly after midnight Wednesday local time.

Chan, 31, Sukumaran, 34, and six other prisoners were taken to a jungle clearing on Nusakambangan Island.
They were shot dead by firing squads comprising 12 police privates armed with rifles at 12:25am local time (3:25am AEST).

Australia had appealed to Indonesia to delay the executions, citing alleged flaws in how their case was prosecuted.

The executions which took place in Besi prison on the island of Nusakambangan saw the ninth convict, a woman from the Philippines-Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso spared—her execution was postponed at the last minute.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso’s execution was delayed after a request by the Philippine president, a spokesman from the attorney general’s office told the BBC.

The BBC says “the request came after someone suspected of framing Veloso to carry heroin into Indonesia surrendered to police in the Philippines, the spokesman went on.”

After the executions, Steven Ciobo, parliamentary secretary to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, tweeted: “There are few greater displays of abuse of state power and regressive thinking than the death penalty.”

From Indonesia, a law enforcement official was quoted saying: ‘The executions went well, without any disruptions.”