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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.

Hamas court orders execution of 'collaborator'

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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — A Gaza military court has condemned a man to death and sentenced another to forced labour for collaborating with Israel, the Hamas interior ministry said on Wednesday.

"The permanent tribunal on Tuesday sentenced the accused to death by hanging for treason and complicity with murder," the ministry said in a statement which identified the condemned man only as a resident of the central Gaza Strip.

The second man was sentenced to 15 years of forced labour, the statement said, adding that both judgements were subject to appeal.

In April, Gaza's Hamas rulers executed two alleged "collaborators" in the first executions to be carried out since the Islamist movement seized power in June 2007.

It was also the first time executions had been carried out in the coastal enclave for five years.

Palestinian law defines collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking as capital crimes.

It says the president must approve all execution orders before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognises the legitimacy of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.

Israeli security forces routinely use Palestinian informers to thwart militant attacks and assist in the assassinations of top militants.

Source: AFP, March 31, 2011
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