Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira was executed on January 18, the last of five drug felons shot by firing squads on Nusakambangan, Indonesia's execution island.

The horrific last minutes of Moreira's life were relayed to Fairfax Media by Cilacap priest Father Charles Burrows, who was supposed to be called upon to comfort the man.

Cilacap is a town located within sight of Nusakambangan Island.

"He had to be dragged from his cell crying and saying 'help me'," said Burrows.

"He actually excremented in his trousers."

The guards hosed him down but he continued to weep "all the time up to his last minutes".

The priest said that, though the wardens were very polite, the attorney did not give him a letter to get on to the island to comfort the man even after he had kept telling them he wanted to be there.

"Usually there is a time when the minister or spiritual director gets to go forward to console them."

"Nobody consoled Marco."

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two Australian drug convicts, are due to face the firing squad in Indonesia.

The executions have once more been put on hold until An Indonesian court hears an appeal is heard on Thursday against president Joko Widodo's refusal to grant them clemency.

Source

• smh.com.au
• au.ibtimes.com
• Image: bbcimg.co.uk

Their support has added weight to a Palmerston North mother's campaign to stop retailers in the Manawatu from selling legal highs.

Esther McLean has proposed that the city's mayor, Jono Naylor, visits every legal-high retailer in town to encourage them to stop selling the products.

The 11 school principals have signed a letter to the Palmerston North City Council in support of her proposal.

"We are also prepared to be part of a campaign that proposes a boycott against any dairy or store that sells them," the letter says.

Freyberg High principal Peter Brooks spearheaded the move and said the boycott would soon be actively encouraged by all 11 schools.

"The next step is for us to be given the names of the dairies in our areas that sell legal highs. If we get that then we can use our communities and our parents to target [those retailers] by going to other shops," Brooks said.

Last week Police in Hamilton called on the public to boycott Hamilton dairies selling controversial legal highs.

But one dairy owner is still stocking synthetic cannabis products, claiming they are his "bread and butter" and the Government is to blame for not banning them sooner.

Police have launched Operation Dairy in the city's east, hitting the streets to lecture dairies who refused to stop selling legal highs.

Shopowners agreeing not to stock the products were given a large yellow and red poster to display in shop front windows.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Static.stuff.co.nz