Suhendro Putro, a funeral director with the Javanese Christian Church (GKJ) in Cilacap, Central Java, seemed unable to hide his strained feelings as he struggled to complete coffins and crosses prepared for seven death row inmates to be executed soon.

He carefully emblazoned the names and dates of birth of the death row inmates on large crosses that will be put over their graves.

Suhendro said he actually had put dates of their death on the crosses but he covered them with a piece of white paper, saying that it would be unethical to show them to the public.

"Some people took pictures of the crosses with dates of birth and death on them. I got protests from many people, saying that this made me look like an angel of death. They asked how I could determine the death date of someone who is still alive. I'€™m just doing on my duty, anyway," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday evening.

Suhendro said he had to complete the crosses on Monday evening and hand them over to the police personnel who gave him the order.

"There are seven crosses, in accordance with the number of Christian death row inmates, comprising four Protestants and three Catholics," he said.

Among the names are two Australian ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine drug ring, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, and Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the Philippines. (ebf)(+++)

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