Australian Andrew Chan, the second of the Bali Nine duo
IN PHOTO: January 26, 2006, Australian Andrew Chan listens while prosecutors read their demand in Denpasar district court in the Indonesian island of Bali January 26, 2006. Indonesian prosecutors sought the death penalty on Thursday for Chan accused of heroin trafficking, the second capital punishment demand against nine Australians on trial in a high-profile case. Reuters/Bagus Othman

The bodies Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are expected to return Australia in a couple of days. The corpses reached Jakarta on Wednesday after having been executed by Indonesian authorities.

Chan and Sukumaran were among eight drug convicts who had been shot dead by Indonesia. The Asian country has strict laws against drug-related crimes. The Australian men were executed on the Indonesian prison island of Nusakambangan.

While the bodies are expected to be moved to Australia by the end of the week, there is no confirmation about the schedule yet. Neither Indonesian officials nor their Australian counterparts have given any confirmation. Nor have the families of Chan and Sukumaran provided any confirmation of the schedule.

Christie Buckingham, the wife of Pastor Rob Buckingham, provided support to Sukumaran during the last hours of his life. According to her, both the Australian convicts spent the final hours before execution in prayer.

Major David Soper was the one who provided spiritual support for Chan. Neither Buckingham nor Soper witnessed the execution. However, both of them were “nearby” when the execution took place.

According to the pastor, his wife had spent the entire evening with Sukumaran before he was taken out with other convicts to be executed. He said that both Chan and Sukumaran had spent a good time in prayer together and worship together.

The pastor said that Sukumaran had been quite sure about not getting blindfolded during execution. He said that he wanted to look his executioner in the eye. "All they or anybody else was asking was that these two men would be left in prison for the rest of their lives in Indonesia, so that they could continue the work of helping to reform and rehabilitate other people,” the pastor said, "With that taken away from them ... it's like, 'You guys, you are doing the wrong thing by taking our lives and we will not give you any satisfaction by showing any level of weakness even in our last moments'."

Indonesian Attorney General HM Prasetyo said after the execution that it was a warning for others. He warned against committing drug crimes in Indonesia as the country would be “harsh” to them.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au

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