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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 condemns 2 to death over porn sites

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Iranian courts on Sunday sentenced 2 people to death for running porn sites, prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said, quoted on the Islamic republic's official IRNA news agency.

"2 administrators of porn sites have been sentenced to death in 2 different (court) branches and (the verdicts) have been sent to the supreme court for confirmation," Dolatabadi said, without naming the 2 convicts.

Last December, Canada expressed concern over the reported death sentence handed down to an Iranian-born Canadian resident for allegedly designing an adult website.

Saeed Malekpour, 35, was convicted of "designing and moderating adult content websites," "agitation against the regime" in Tehran, and "insulting the sanctity of Islam," according to an online campaign calling for his release.

Malekpour was detained in Iran after returning in 2008 to visit his ailing father. He was sentenced to death in December.

The Netherlands froze contacts with Tehran after Saturday's hanging of an Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling, having initially been arrested for taking part in anti-government protests.

Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and United States have the highest numbers of executions each year. Adultery, murder, drug trafficking, homosexuality and other major crimes are all punishable by death in the Islamic republic.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January 31, 2011
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