Eight drug convicts executed in Indonesia

Eight drug-trafficking convicts from several countries were executed by an Indonesian firing squad shortly after midnight yesterday, media said, but a Filipina who was on death row with them was unexpectedly spared at the last minute.

The nine inmates, all convicted on drug charges, 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 UN had argued that their crimes — ranging from possession of 72kg (11.3 stone) of marijuana to heroin trafficking — were not egregious enough to warrant the ultimate punishment.