text: Media caption Myuran Sukumaran's mother: "Call off the execution, please don't kill my son" 
   
   A group of prisoners due to be executed for drugs offences in Indonesia have spent what are believed to be their final moments with their families. 
   
   Relatives of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were visibly distressed. Sukumaran's sister collapsed and had to be carried. 
   
   Chan, Sukumaran and seven others are expected to be executed by firing squad as early as Tuesday night local time. 
   
   A French national still has his appeal under review. 
   
   Indonesia has some of the world's toughest drug laws, but Jakarta has justified this due to the country's own drugs problem - 33 Indonesians die every day as a result of drugs, according to Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency. 
   
   Australian media reported that families of Chan and Sukumaran were given about five hours to say their goodbyes, and that the men had been denied their own choice of spiritual adviser in their final hours, instead being given Christian guides nominated by the authorities. 
   
   Image copyright AFP Image caption Andrew Chan's mother Helen (right) broke down in tears as she arrived on Nusakambangan island 
   
   Image copyright AP Image caption The cousin of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte following her meeting with him 
   
   After the meeting, the brothers of the Australians made an appeal via the media for final clemency, with Michael Chan describing the goodbye as "torture". 
   
   "I saw today something that no other family should ever have to go through. To walk out of there and say goodbye for the last time, it is torture. No family should go through that." 
   
   Chintu Sukumaran said: "There were so many things to talk about. We did talk about the death penalty and he knows this is just a waste... I ask the president [of Indonesia] to please show mercy, please don't let my mum and my sister have to bury my brother." 
   
   The relatives of Philippines convict Mary Jane Veloso were each given a blessing by a Filipino priest as they arrived at the prison on Nusakambangan Island, AFP reported. 
   
   "The family was so silent. It's really very sad. We see a kind of deep pain," he told the agency. 
   
   The nine prisoners, who also include three Nigerians, a Brazilian and a Ghanaian, were formally notified on Saturday that they would be executed. Under Indonesian law, criminals must be given 72 hours notice, which means that they can be killed as early as Tuesday night local time (Tuesday afternoon GMT). 
   
   Media caption The BBC looks at the prison which has been called 'the Alcatraz of Indonesia', where condemned prisoners are executed by firing squad 
   
   Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier urged Indonesia to delay the execution of its two nationals until a corruption investigation into their case was complete. 
   
   'No legal standing' 
   
   But Indonesia's attorney general later confirmed that the nine death row convicts would be executed as planned. 
   
   Attorney General HM Prasetyo told the BBC a judicial review "could not amend [a] previous court ruling" and that "foreigners do not have any legal standing for a judicial review on the Constitutional Court". 
   
   Claims that the Indonesian judges in the trial had asked for bribes for lighter sentences first surfaced earlier this year. 
   
   One of the judges involved in the case denied there had been political interference or negotiations about bribes. 
   
   "I can assure you there was none," the judge told Fairfax Media. "We protected ourselves from everybody. It was purely our decision." 
   
   Image copyright AFP Image caption Andrew Chan (left) and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death in 2006 
   
   Who is facing execution? 
   
   Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan 
   
   Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso 
   
   Frenchman Serge Areski Atlaoui 
   
   Ghanaian Martin Anderson 
   
   Indonesian Zainal Abidin bin Mgs Mahmud Badarudin 
   
   Nigerians Raheem Agbaje Salami, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Okwudili Oyatanze 
   
   Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte 
   
   The head of Europe's 47-nation human rights organisation, the Council of Europe, also issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Indonesia to call off the execution. 
   
   "The death penalty is a terrible injustice which can never be put right," said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland. 
   
   Chan and Sukumaran, along with seven other Australians, were arrested in Bali in 2005 for trying to smuggle more than 18lb (8.2kg) of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. 
   
   The pair were later found to be the ringleaders of the group and sentenced to death. The other seven members of the "Bali Nine" are currently serving either life or 20 years in prison. 
   
   Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013. ||||| Australian pair, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and a Filipino face a firing squad within the next 24 hours after mercy pleas for drug smugglers fail 
   
   The distraught relatives of two Australians on death row in Indonesia had to be carried through a media pack on Tuesday as they arrived for what is expected to be their last visit to see their loved ones. 
   
   Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are among a group of convicted drug smugglers facing execution, which also includes four Nigerians, a Brazilian, an Indonesian and a Filipino woman. 
   
   
   
   No official time has been set for when the group will face the firing squad on an island prison off the coast of Java, but a 72-hour notice period expires at midnight on Tuesday local time (5pm GMT). 
   
   Police on Tuesday morning used dogs to clear a path through surging media at the port of Cilacap as Chan and Sukumaran’s visibly distressed relatives arrived. 
   
   Sukumaran’s sister Brintha collapsed in the melee and had to be carried into the port office by her father Sam. 
   
   
   
   An Australian journalist was bitten by a police dog, several reporters were pushed to the ground and a passer-by was shoved from a scooter in the crush around the families. 
   
   
   
   Relatives were already upset by news that Chan and Sukumaran have been denied their choice of spiritual guide in their final hours. The men will have only Christian leaders nominated by authorities to accompany them, rather than the ones they chose. 
   
   Facebook Twitter Pinterest Myuran Sukumaran self-portraits are displayed as Andrew Chan’s brother pleads for mercy on Monday 
   
   The families will spend approximately five hours with the men at the prison on Nusa Kambanang and return around 2pm local time. 
   
   Last-ditch diplomatic efforts have failed to secure a reprieve for the pair. 
   
   Pleas for clemency for 30-year-old Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman arrested for smuggling heroin into Indonesia in 2010, have also failed. She maintains she was unaware the drugs were hidden in her suitcase. 
   
   Her two sons, aged six and 12, have visited her on the prison island, where, according to her older sister, Marites Veloso-Laurente, Veloso told them: “If Mumma does not go home, just think Mumma is in heaven.” 
   
   Vigils have been held outside Indonesian embassies in Manila, Melbourne and Sydney, but have failed to sway the country’s leader, Joko Widodo, to show clemency. 
   
   “We don’t want to make enemies with any country, but we are fighting narcotics whose impacts are horrific, especially in Indonesia,” the Indonesian attorney-general, Muhammad Prasetyo, said. 
   
   Sukumaran, 34, and Chan, 31, were sentenced to death in 2006 for their role in a plot to export 8.3kg of heroin from Bali into Australia. The remaining seven of the so-called Bali Nine were given life sentences. 
   
   Many who encountered the men during their time on death row say they were fully rehabilitated. Chan converted to Christianity and Sukumaran became an accomplished painter. 
   
   
   
   They were notified on Tuesday that the spiritual advisers they had chosen to accompany them for the remaining hours to midnight were rejected by Indonesian authorities, which Chan’s brother, Andrew, slammed as the “last bit of dignity denied”. 
   
   The artist Ben Quilty, a friend of Sukumaran, said the Sydney man would decline to be blindfolded before the firing squad. 
   
   “Myuran always said to me that he would never take this lying down; that he would stare them down, that no one would cover his eyes, that he would face it with dignity,” Quilty said in an interview on 2GB radio. 
   
   All nine prisoners will be executed together by squads of 12 gunmen, only three of whom will carrying live rounds. Ambulances arrived at Cilacap earlier on Tuesday carrying nine coffins. 
   
   The other condemned prisoners are Raheem Agbaje Salami (also known as Jamiu Owolabi Abashin), Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Martin Anderson and Okwuduli Oyatanze, all from Nigeria, and Rodrigo Gularte of Brazil. 
   
   A tenth prisoner, Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, was also listed to die, but has had the sentence delayed pending a legal challenge. ||||| CILICAP, Indonesia (AP) — Ambulances carrying coffins arrived Tuesday at a prison island and relatives paid final visits to their condemned loved ones in a sign that Indonesia will imminently execute eight foreigners and one Indonesian man, despite an international outcry and pleas for mercy. 
   
   Celia Veloso, center, mother of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman on death row, arrives at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Members of the media photograph a convoy of ambulances as they arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
   
   Members of the media photograph a convoy of ambulances as they arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
   
   Chintu Sukumaran, left, brother of Myuran Sukumaran, an Australian on death row, arrives at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Mark Daniel, left, and Mark Darren, sons of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman on death row, arrive at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Michael Chan, center, brother of Andrew Chan, an Australian on death row, walks upon arrival at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Michael Chan, left, and Chintu Sukumaran, brothers of Australian death row prisoners Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, carry a self-portrait drawn by Sukumaran after visiting the prison island of Nusakambangan... (Associated Press) 
   
   Indonesian police officers with their dogs stand guard at Wijayapura port in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, April 27, 2015, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Indonesia notified nine foreigners... (Associated Press) 
   
   Brintha Sukumaran, center, sisters of Myuran Sukumaran, an Australian on death row, cries upon arrival at Wijayapura ferry port to cross to the prison island of Nusakambangan, in Cilacap, Central Java,... (Associated Press) 
   
   A paper printed with the name of Filipino woman on death row for drug offenses Mary Jane Veloso is put on the dashboard of a police ambulance carrying empty coffin, upon arrival to cross to the prison... (Associated Press) 
   
   Armed police officers and security personnel stand guard as a ferry carrying ambulances prepares to set off for Nusakambangan island in Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Indonesia... (Associated Press) 
   
   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 United Nations has argued that the inmates' crimes are not egregious enough to warrant the ultimate punishment. 
   
   Indonesia has not confirmed exactly when the executions will take place. But the arrival of the coffins and the families' visits Tuesday, along with Indonesia's usual execution protocol, suggest the inmates will be shot by the firing squad shortly after midnight. 
   
   Among the condemned are two Australians — Myuran Sukumaran, 33, and Andrew Chan, 31 — whose emotional families made what could be their last visit to Besi prison on Nusakambangan island, where the prisoners are scheduled to die. Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, wailed in agony and had to be carried through a crowd of media waiting at the ferry port to the island. 
   
   Chan received a visit from Febyanti Herewila, an Indonesian Christian pastor who became his wife in a marriage ceremony on the island on Monday. 
   
   A dozen ambulances, nine carrying coffins, were driven onto the ferry to Nusakambangan. On the dashboard of one ambulance was a piece of paper bearing the name of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino woman who is among those scheduled to die. 
   
   Over the weekend, authorities asked the nine inmates — the two Australians and Veloso, as well as four Nigerian men and one man each from Brazil and Indonesia — for their last wishes and gave them 72-hour notices of their executions. 
   
   On Tuesday, Australia's foreign minister defended Prime Minister Tony Abbott against online criticism that he had not done enough to save the lives of Sukumaran and Chan. 
   
   Australian actors including Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Bryan Brown have launched an online video calling for Indonesia to show mercy to the two men. 
   
   "Tony, if you have any courage and compassion, you'd get over to Indonesia and bring these two boys home," actor Brendan Cowell said to the prime minister. 
   
   But Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Australian government was acting on advice from Australian diplomats in Jakarta who were part of a sustained campaign seeking a stay of execution. 
   
   "Clearly if traveling to Indonesia would make a difference, we would have gone there," Bishop told Nine Network television. 
   
   Abbott has spoken to Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo several times on the issue, most recently in Singapore in late March at the funeral of Lee Kuan Yew, the city-state's first prime minister, Bishop said. 
   
   Bishop said her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, wrote to her Monday night and gave no indication that the executions would not go ahead as early as Wednesday morning. 
   
   "While they are still alive, there is still hope and I will continue to advocate all throughout today," Bishop said. 
   
   Indonesian Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said Monday that another convict, Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, would not be executed with the others because he still has an outstanding legal complaint over the rejection of his clemency appeal. 
   
   Prasetyo said Atlaoui would later face a firing squad alone if his complaint is turned down by the Administrative Court. Similar appeals by Sukumaran and Chan were rejected by the Administrative Court and the High Administrative Court, with both ruling that clemency is the prerogative of the president. 
   
   The head of Europe's human rights watchdog on Tuesday urged Indonesia not to carry out the executions. The France-based Council of Europe holds its 47 member countries accountable to the European Convention on Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty. 
   
   "The death penalty is a terrible injustice which can never be put right," Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said in a statement. He urged Indonesia to refrain from the executions and "then to consider introducing a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to working towards abolition." 
   
   Philippine President Benigno Aquino III appealed to Jokowi on Monday to spare the life of Veloso, the Filipino drug convict, in a meeting on the sidelines of an annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Malaysia. 
   
   Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao also appealed to Jokowi to spare Veloso's life. 
   
   "I am begging and knocking at your kind heart that your excellency will grant executive clemency to her by sparing her life and saving her from execution," Pacquiao said in a live interview from Los Angeles with Philippine network GMA News. 
   
   Veloso's two sons and her mother were seen arriving at the prison for a final visit. 
   
   ___ 
   
   Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.
target: – The pleas for mercy weren't enough, apparently. Despite uproar from several foreign governments, Indonesia is readying for the executions of eight foreigners and one local man convicted of drug trafficking. A dozen ambulances—nine of which were carrying coffins—boarded a ferry to Besi prison on Nusakambangan Island today, while inmates' family members made what are now considered last visits, the AP reports. One relative described the goodbye as "torture," while another collapsed in agony, reports the BBC. Though it was believed Frenchman Serge Atlaoui would be executed, Indonesia's AG says an outstanding appeal will save his life for now. It isn't clear when the executions will occur, but protocol suggests the inmates could be shot by a firing squad just after midnight local time. Some in Australia, including actor Guy Pearce, have criticized Prime Minister Tony Abbott for failing to visit Indonesia and bring home its two nationals, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, who were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of the country in 2005. Chan married his Indonesian Christian pastor yesterday. "Clearly if traveling to Indonesia would make a difference, we would have gone there," Australia's foreign minister says, adding "while they are still alive, there is still hope." The BBC reports Indonesia indicated it would not stay the two inmates' executions despite a corruption investigation into the case. Meanwhile, a friend of Sukumaran says the inmate will choose not to be blindfolded before 12 gunmen, three of whom will have live rounds, reports the Guardian. "Myuran always said to me that he would never take this lying down; that he would stare them down, that no one would cover his eyes, that he would face it with dignity."