Grisly tales from the killing field

GRUESOME details of the execution process in Indonesia have emerged from sources on the prison island of Nusa Kambangan, based on how five people were shot after midnight on January 18.

When Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra were killed by firing squad in late 2008 they were strapped to square wooden posts and stood on small podiums built into the base.

In the recent January round, four men from Brazil, Holland, Malawi and Nigeria were shot strapped to unsecured planks. An Indonesian woman shot with them was not planked.

According to sources, the hardwood teak planks stand about 2m tall and are about 40cm wide.

The victims are given the option of wearing a hood, have their hands cuffed at the front, their legs bound together and bound to the planks with rubber strapping — something like tyre inner-tubing.

The planks are not fixed to the ground — the condemned people can shuffle on the spot or could fall to the ground.

A source present at the recent shootings said all took a while to die after being shot in the chest.

Local Catholic priest Charlie Burrows, who witnessed the executions of two Nigerian men on Nusa Kambangan in 2008, said one of them took seven minutes to die.