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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.

Poland's opposition party wants death penalty reinstated

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PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński said the penalty should be applied to those who commit exceptionally cruel murders

Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of Poland's main opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), told journalists on Friday that his party will soon submit an amendment to the penal code calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.

“We would like to reinstate the death penalty for exceptionally cruel murders, and in general, increase the punishment for murders,” Mr Kaczyński said.

According to the PiS party leader, Poland's average punishment for committing a murder is seven years in prison; this figure includes second degree murder.

“The nation should be protecting its honest people and combating crime, so that the average Pole can feel safe,” he added.

Mr Kaczyński said that he is aware of objections the EU administration could have to this plan. However, he said that there is no law in the EU which forbids the death penalty.

“Just because the EU elites are against it, does not mean we have to be. We are a sovereign state,” he added.

Poland has signed and ratified Protocol 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights which forbids the death penalty in times of peace.

Signing and ratifying the treaty is a condition which must be met in order for a country to be allowed to join the EU.

Source: Izabela Depczyk, Warsaw Business Journal, November 25, 2011
Location: Poland
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