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Angelita Muxfedlt, right, a cousin of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte,
by his coffin in Jarkarta on 29 April 2015 |
The Brazilian man executed in
Indonesia last week is due to be buried in his home country, as his family launch a campaign to have him posthumously pardoned on the grounds of mental health problems.
Rodrigo Gularte, who was twice diagnosed with schizophrenia, only realised he was about to be shot minutes before he stood before the firing squad. According to the priest who administered his last rites, he was hearing voices in his empty cell and asked at the last
“Am I being executed?…That’s not right.” He reportedly declared that he would be resurrected 10 days after his death.
His family and friends, who will attend a funeral mass in Curitiba on Sunday, told the Guardian the signs of mental instability were apparent from before Gularte’s adolescence.
Juliana Gularte said her cousin had been diagnosed firstly with cerebral dysrhythmia, which made him particularly impulsive, from the age of 10. Six years later, when he was sent to a rehabilitation centre as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, doctors discovered he had bipolar disorder.
“They wanted to put him on medication, but he refused. He never liked that,” she said.
He was twice been hospitalised for drug abuse and dropped out of three college courses.
Marcelo Penayo, a friend, said Gularte exhibited strong mood swings. “He would switch between moments of euphoria, going to the beach, going surfing, always inviting everyone to come along. Then he would sometimes become very introspective and sad, even when he was among friends and with his girlfriend,” he said.
His condition and his drug abuse reportedly worsened after his parents’ divorce, though his mother tried to help by buying him a restaurant. The family claim international drug smugglers took advantage of Gularte’s recklessness to persuade him to act as a mule while he was on a trip to Asia.
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Source: The Guardian, Jonathan Watts, May 3, 2015
