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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.

Home ministry rejects 26/11 terrorist Kasab's mercy plea

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NEW DELHI: Acting swiftly on 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case convict Ajmal Amir Kasab's mercy petition, the Union home ministry has rejected his plea of commuting death penalty and sent the file to President Pranab Mukherjee for taking the final decision.

In an unprecedented move, the home ministry -- which took years in sending mercy petition files of other convicts on death row -- has sent Kasab's file to Rashtrapati Bhavan within three weeks of getting the note of rejection from Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayan.

"Since the state government and the governor had already rejected Kasab's mercy petition, the home ministry need not send it again to state. It simply processed it at its end taking state's advice and sent it to the President for taking final call", said a senior home ministry official.

The official said it was now up to the President to take a decision.


Source: The Times of India, October 23, 2012
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