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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: Guardian Council approves new penal legislation

Flogging in Iran
The Guardian Council has approved the Islamic Penal Code legislation, announcing that it does not contradict the principles of Shari’a or the Islamic Republic constitution.

ISNA reports that Parliament made necessary reforms in the legislation, and the newly approved law will replace the former.

Experts report, however, that the newly approved legislation remains unchanged in terms of penal sentences like stoning, dismemberment and execution of minors, and gender discrimination persists in many of its articles.

The organization, Justice for Iran, said in an earlier statement that approval of this legislation would worsen the already dismal human rights situation in Iran.

“After years of criticism from Iranian and international societies regarding numerous points of blatant violation of human rights in Iranian laws, the Islamic Parliament is on the verge of approving legislation that not only disregards all the aforementioned criticism but in some cases makes the situation even worse,” Justice for Iran announced in an earlier statement.

In recent years, Iranian penal sentencing has caused great outrage both in and outside Iran, with stories of women sentenced to stoning for adultery, and minors sentenced to death who are executed after reaching adulthood behind bars. The rise in the number of executions in Iran has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who have called on the United Nations to make every effort to pressure the Islamic Republic into addressing these issues.

Source: Radio Zamaneh, January 29, 2012

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