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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.

Gaza court issues death penalty to convicted collaborator

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A court in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday sentenced a man to death on charges of collaborating with Israel.

The court ruled that the man, identified only as B.H, be sentenced to death by hanging, but did not set a date for the execution.

Another man was sentenced to death on criminal charges of killing 3 Palestinians in Khan Younis.

The Hamas-run security services have cracked down on collaborators in the Gaza Strip since launching a campaign in the media to discourage working with Israeli intelligence.

Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel is punishable by death.

However all execution orders must be approved by the president before they can be carried out. Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of incumbent Mahmoud Abbas, whose 4-year term ended in 2009.

In early August, UN rights chief Navi Pillay described the judicial process in Gaza as deeply flawed.

"I am concerned about the process by which death sentences are imposed by military and civilian courts in the Gaza Strip," she said.

"Serious concerns have also been raised about ill-treatment and torture during interrogations of persons later sentenced to death."

Source: Ma'an News Agency, August 28, 2013
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