(CNN Philippines) — Anytime tonight, nine prisoners will be executed at the Nusa Kambangan, a maximum high-security prison in Central Java, Indonesia, also known as “execution island.”
The nine convicts — one Filipino, three Nigerians, two Australians, one Brazilian, one Ghanaian, and one Indonesian — are expected to be led to an isolated area, where they will executed by firing squad.
A firing squad, recruited from a special unit of the national police, will do the execution. They are chosen based on their marksmanship and “physical and spiritual health.” The chosen marksmen are given counselling before and after executions.
There will be 12 marksmen assigned for each prisoner — all aiming rifles at his or her heart – firing from between five to 10 meters, according to Amnesty International.
Only three guns are loaded with live ammunition which authorities say was meant to keep the executioner unidentified.
The prisoners are moved into isolation cells 72 hours before execution. Visits from families and religious counsellors are allowed up to a few hours before the execution takes place.
The inmates are given the option whether to stand, kneel, or sit, and whether they want to wear a blindfold, hood, or nothing. Their hands and feet, however, are tied when the execution takes place.
The nine prisoners — one of them is convicted drug mule Mary Jane Veloso — are due to be executed anytime from 5 p.m. onwards.
There will be medical personnel on site to pronounce the prisoner dead after the execution.
Bodies are cleaned and handed over to families, who wait outside the prison during the execution.
Reuters also contributed to this report.
