Convicts Sang Amazing Grace Before Death

                                

Yesterday, as Indonesia executed eight criminals by firing squad over drug related activities, witnesses have revealed how the condemned conducted themselves even as they faced a hail of bullets.

 The eight condemned individuals sang praise songs as they were led to their positions, and witnesses across the water also tearfully joined them in singing. The executed convicts consisted of two Australians, a Brazilian, four from Africa and one Indonesian. They had been led from their prison to a clearing on a prison island to meet their fate at midnight on Tuesday, April 28.

According to GMA news, the condemned all rejected the blindfolds and raised their voices to sing. One of the songs was the world famous Christian hymn published in 1779 by John Newton, Amazing Grace.

The husband of Pastor Christie Buckingham, who gave spiritual guidance to one of the Australians in his final moments, said his wife told him the men conducted themselves with “dignity and strength until the end”.

“She told me the eight of them walked out onto the killing field singing songs of praise,” Rob Buckingham told 3AW radio in Australia.

The song filled out the night sky, while one man cried out and asked the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, to have mercy. Another supporter read out the names of each inmate one by one.

Their family members were seen crying, while friends and supporters were on hand to give them a helping hand as they prepare to bury their loved ones.