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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.

Iran: Danger of executions after torture and forced confession

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According to the Iranian daily Kayhan (close to Ali Khamenei, the Iranian authority's supreme leader) the person who took the film showing Neda Agha Soltan being killed by a bullet has been arrested and confessed participation in planning the shooting at Neda.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of Iran Human Rights, warned that many of those arrested under the pro-democracy demonstrations in Iran could be in danger of torture, forced confessions and possibly execution. He said to the Italian daily Corriere della sera: "we have entered a new phase where the Iranian authorities, by taking forced confessions is preparing further arresting and possibly execution of some of those participated in the demonstrations". He continued: "The Iranian authorities will be at the same time using these constructed TV-confessions to intimidate those who are sending pictures and reports of the demonstrations to the international media".

Emphasizing that several hundred detainees are in risk of torture, forced confessions and execution, he asked the world community and UN to intervene and guarantee the safety and humane treatment of those who were arrested.

Several hundred people have been arrested after the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tehran, and they are being held at different detention centers such as Evin prison.

We still do not have the exact number of those arrested or killed in relation to the pro-democracy demonstrations of the past 2 weeks in Iran.

Source: Iranhr, June 27, 2009
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