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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.

2/3 of Britons Would Bring Back Capital Punishment

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Most respondents who support the death penalty believe it would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers.

The views of people in Britain on capital punishment have not changed over the past year, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 2,009 British adults, 65 % of respondents support reinstating the death penalty for murder in Great Britain, virtually unchanged since 2011.

The highest level of support for the return of capital punishment comes from men (68%) and Britons over the age of 55 (69%).

Most supporters of the death penalty believe it would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers (66%), it would fit the crime because a convicted murderer has taken a life (62%), and would save taxpayers money and the costs associated with having murderers in prison (58%).

Opponents of capital punishment are primarily concerned with the possibility of a person being wrongly convicted and then executed (80%).

A majority of respondents (62%) believe the death penalty is sometimes appropriate, while 1-in5 (20%) think it is never appropriate. When given a choice between 2 possible punishments for a convicted murderer, 1/2 of respondents (51%) select the death penalty, while 35 % pick life imprisonment.

3-in-4 Britons (75%) would agree with MPs debating in the House of Commons whether the death penalty should be reinstated in the country.

Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion, Sept. 27, 2012
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