Indonesia has announced that it may go ahead with plans to execute a Brazilian national for drug smuggling despite claims by the convict’s family that he is suffering from schizophrenia, local media say.

Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo raised doubts about the claims made by Rodrigo Gularte’s lawyer and family, arguing that the offender was in a mentally sound condition at the time of his conviction, local media quoted him as saying on Thursday.

“We are seeking a second opinion from an independent doctor because the one who certified him as mentally ill was a doctor appointed by his lawyers,” said Prasetyo.

Prasetyo said Gularte, 42, could still face execution under the country’s law regardless of his current health condition, adding, “The law only exempts pregnant women and children under 18 years old.”

Gularte (pictured below) was sentenced to death in 2005 for smuggling cocaine into Indonesia and is among the 11 prisoners, including two Australians, awaiting a date to be executed.

Last year, the family of the offender managed to file a request for a thorough examination of his mental health with the help of the Brazilian embassy in Jakarta.

Eventually, the family of 42-year-old appealed for a pardon on grounds that he had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, who is delusional with psychotic tendencies.

However, earlier this month, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo warned that nothing can derail the planned execution of the 11 convicts, calling on foreign countries not to intervene in the Asian country’s internal affairs.

Another Brazilian national Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, was executed in Indonesia last month by firing squad for drug trafficking despite an appeal from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for mercy.

Indonesia is also currently engaged in a standoff with Australia over the execution plan of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were arrested in 2005 on charges of drug smuggling 8.3 kilograms of heroin out of the Indonesian resort island of Bali into Australia.

Last month, Indonesia executed six convicted traffickers, including foreigners from other countries, including Malawi Nigeria, the Netherlands and Vietnam.

Brazil and the Netherlands later recalled their ambassadors in Indonesia after Jakarta brushed aside their appeals for clemency and executed their citizens over drugs offenses.

The Brazilian leader went even further by refusing to receive the credentials of Indonesian envoy-designate, Toto Riyanto, to express anger at the planned execution of Gularte.

More than 138 people are on death row in Indonesia mostly for drug crimes. Drug offenders face harsh punishments including the death penalty in the country. About a third of the convicted are foreigners.

HJM/MKA/HMV