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Indonesia | 14 years on death row: Timeline of Mary Jane Veloso’s ordeal and fight for justice

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MANILA, Philippines — The case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, has spanned over a decade and remains one of the most high-profile legal battles involving an overseas Filipino worker. Veloso was arrested on April 25, 2010, at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in October – just six months after her arrest. Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the penalty in May 2011.

Japan: bill proposing a four-year moratorium on the death penalty

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February 10, 2008: a cross-party group of Japanese legislators drafted a bill proposing a four-year moratorium on the death penalty. The bill, a step towards abolition, will shortly be submitted to parliament and introduces life imprisonment without parole as a substitute. But the initiative is likely to meet stiff opposition.

The way the death penalty is administered has been condemned both domestically and abroad: death row inmates are executed at short notice, to deter appeals. They are put to death by hanging, generally on a Friday and during parliamentary recess to avoid media exposure or public opposition. At the trial stage, defendants may not have easy access to a lawyer, and the prosecutorial system tends to value confessions above evidence.

Abolitionist parliamentarians appear to think the time is right for reform. But the current Justice Minister, Kunio Hatoyama, is a vocal supporter of capital punishment. He has signed off six executions since taking office last September. And surveys suggest a majority of Japanese want to retain the death penalty for particularly heinous crimes.

Sources: BBC, 10/02/2008
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