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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 beheads Indian worker for murder

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Public beheading in Saudi Arabia
Public beheading in Saudi Arabia
It marks the third execution so far this year; 78 beheaded in 2013

Riyadh: An Indian worker convicted of murdering a Saudi was beheaded by the sword in the Riyadh region on Thursday, the interior ministry said.

Mohammad Latif was found guilty of having beaten to death his sponsor, Dhafer Bin Mohammad Al Dosari, with a sharp object and then dumping his body in a well, it was quoted by state news agency SPA as saying.

A system called “kafala” [in Arabic] gives local sponsors control over foreign workers in the Gulf, often leading to disputes.

Latif’s execution was the third carried out this year in Saudi Arabia, which beheaded 78 people in 2013, according to an AFP count.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, homosexuality and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the conservative kingdom’s strict version of Sharia.

Source: Agence France-Presse, January 30, 2014
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