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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.

Texas: Former DR inmate Nanon Williams ordered released from prison

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Abolition Movement member Lucha Rodriguez just received a phone call from Morris Moon, one of several attorneys for former death row prisoner Nanon Williams and he told her that Federal Judge Nancy Atlas has today ordered Nanon released from prison.

On August 17 Judge Atlas held a de novo on Nanon's case on the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Now, the state of Texas has 30 days to appeal this ruling by Judge Atlas. To appeal, they would have to go to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. But it was the 5th Circuit that ordered Nanon's case sent back to the Federal District Court for a de novo hearing. It seems unlikely the 5th Circuit would deny Atlas' ruling.

Nanon Williams was only 17 years old when he was arrested for capital murder in 1992. He was on Texas death row until the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the execution of juveniles in 2005. Nanon Williams is now 36 years old and at the Ramsey Unit south of Houston serving a life sentence.

Source: TX Death Penalty Abolition Movement, November 25, 2010
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