Mentally ill Bali convict ‘did not know he was going to be executed’

A mentally ill Brazilian executed in Indonesia was unaware that he was being put to death in his final hours, say his lawyer and priest. Rodrigo Gularte, 42, was one of eight convicted drug smugglers killed by firing squad on Wednesday, despite pleas from his family that he was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was arrested in 2004 while trying to enter Indonesia with 6 kg of cocaine in his surfing gear. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made repeated personal pleas for Indonesia to commute his sentence on humanitarian grounds because of his mental illness.

I’m not sure whether he really 100% understood he would be executed.

Lawyer Ricky Gunawan

When Gularte was given 72 hours’ notice of his execution, his lawyer, Ricky Gunawan, said his client was oblivious to what was happening. "He had a delusional mind,“ Mr Gunawan told the AFP news agency. "When we said your death sentence will be implemented, he said, 'What death sentence? I will not be sentenced to death.’" Father Charlie Burrows - an Irish priest who counselled Gularte in his final days - also said the Brazilian did not understand what was happening despite his efforts to explain.

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?

Father Charlie Burrows