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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.

NETHERLANDS: DUTCH COURT REJECTS APPEAL BY GAY IRANIAN MAN

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March 11, 2008: the Council of State, the Netherlands' highest administrative court, rejected an appeal filed by Iranian homosexual Mehdi Kazemi against the immigration authorities' refusal to consider his asylum request.

The man fears he will be executed when he returns to Iran where his boyfriend reportedly named him as his partner before he was executed. Mr Kazemi says his life is also in danger because of the extensive media coverage of his case.

The Council of State rejected his appeal because he earlier applied for asylum in the UK. Under the EU's 2003 Dublin Regulation, the country the asylum seeker first enters must process their application. Mr Kazemi's request for asylum was already turned down in the UK, where his homosexuality was not considered sufficient grounds to grant him asylum.

Sources: Radio Netherlands, 11/03/2008
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