Philippines to bring home woman drug convict from Indonesia, eyes clemency
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Mary Jane Veloso (centre) was arrested in 2010 in Yogyakarta for carrying 2.6kg of heroin hidden in her suitcase.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MANILA/JAKARTA - A Philippine woman spared from execution on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia in 2015 will return home after years of negotiations between the two South-east Asian neighbours, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Nov 20.
Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic helper and mother of two, was arrested in 2010 in the city of Yogyakarta for carrying 2.6kg of heroin hidden in her suitcase.
“Eventually, the goal is not just for her to be transferred, but for our president to ... issue clemency,” foreign ministry official Eduardo Jose de Vega told a news conference in Manila, the capital.
Indonesia has not sought anything in return for Veloso’s transfer, the timing of which has yet to be decided, he added.
Veloso will be transferred in December, Mr Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s chief minister for law and human rights, said in a statement.
Veloso was spared from facing a firing squad at the last minute
The execution of eight other drug convicts went ahead, and at the time, Mr Widodo described Veloso's reprieve as a postponement.
Mr Widodo’s term as president ended in October.
People in the Philippines had held protest vigils and celebrated masses in demonstrations against her execution.
“After over a decade of diplomacy and consultations with the Indonesian government, we managed to delay her execution long enough to reach an agreement to finally bring her back to the Philippines,” Mr Marcos said in a statement.
He hailed the neighbours’ shared commitment to justice and compassion, and thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
Mr Prabowo’s office said on Nov 20 that Veloso would serve the rest of her sentence in the Philippines, citing diplomacy and reciprocal partnership in law enforcement as the reason for her transfer.
“We are happy that Mary Jane will be back home,” her mother Celia Veloso told radio station DWPM, though adding that the family still worried that international syndicates involved in the case would harm Veloso and their relatives.
Veloso had always maintained her innocence, claiming to be an unwitting drug mule for a Filipina employment recruiter.
She had previously worked as a domestic worker in Dubai, but left to escape an abusive employer, her legal team had said.
According to a court record, the recruiter asked Veloso to fly to Yogyakarta from Manila to hand over a suitcase to a man.
The authorities there discovered packages of heroin wrapped in foil hidden inside the lining of her luggage and arrested her.
Indonesia has harsh anti-narcotics laws and has executed several foreign nationals, including two Australians who were leaders of the Bali Nine trafficking ring
