Bali Nine Executions: Australian Ambassador Withdrawn; Mary Jane Veloso Spared

Australia has been rocked by the firing squad death of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott recalled ambassador Paul Grigson this morning, in protest to the executions.

"We do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," he said during a press conference.

A glimmer of hope for anti-death penalty advocates has emerged, however, from the Nusakambangan prison island.

A Philippines woman who was set to be executed alongside the convicted drug smugglers has been granted clemency, following the recent confession of another suspect in her case.

Indonesian attorney-general spokesman Tony Spontana communicated the news to the ABC via text message.

Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in April 2010 for transporting 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in October of that same year.

Veloso was scheduled for execution along with eight other death row inmates. Only she was given a reprieve.

The stay of execution was requested by Philippines president Benigno Aquino, who stated that Veloso would be required to give testimony in the trial of another alleged drug trafficker.

It is still possible Veloso could be executed in the future, once her obligations as a witness have been fulfilled.

However, women’s rights groups have taken up her plight, suggesting that she is a victim of human trafficking.

Though Veloso's fate remains in question, those of Chan and Sukumaran have been sealed, following many months of failed mercy pleas by their families and their government.

The bodies of the two men will be returned to Australia for burial.