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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.

Saudi Arabia: Syrian convicted of murder beheaded

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Execution in Saudi Arabia
Execution in Saudi Arabia
His execution brings to 50 number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year.

Riyadh: Saudi authorities beheaded by the sword a Syrian man on Wednesday after convicting him of murdering a bedouin, the interior ministry said.

Abeer Zaidan was found guilty of murdering Badr Bin Murad Al Shimmari, who belonged to a nomadic tribe, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency.

It said Zaidan “deceived his victim, hit him with a piece of iron until he died, and stole the money he had on him.”

His execution in Qurrayyat, in the northern region of Jawf, brings to 50 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on official reports.

Rights group Amnesty International puts the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia last year at 79.

The death penalty applies to a wide range of offences including rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking, as well as murder, as stipulated by Islamic sharia law.

Source: AFP, August 29, 2012
Location: Saudi Arabia
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