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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.

Judicial review into Bali Nine pair 'would not stop executions': Attorney-General

A judicial review into the condemned Bali Nine members filed on Friday would not stop executions proceeding, according to a spokesman for Indonesian Attorney-General H.M Prasetyo.

Tony Spontana accused lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran of trying to delay the executions by filing out an application for a case review, known as a PK.

"Since the norm is that the PK will not stop the execution we hope that the judges in the Denpasar District Court will reject it," he told a press conference.

Mr Spontana said a meeting on January 9 attended by representatives from the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and other agencies had agreed that there could only be one judicial review of a case.

No decision had been made on who would be included in the second round of executions of felons in Indonesia this year.

It had also not been finalised where or when they would be held.

However Mr Spontana said two Australians were among 11 convicts who had lost their clemency pleas and would face the firing squad.

Chan and Sukumaran had their clemency pleas rejected by Indonesian President Joko Widodo earlier this month.

Mr Spontana said the Attorney-General's office was still evaluating the first round of executions, in which six drug felons - five of whom were foreigners - were shot dead on January 18.

He said problems had included delays in the timing of the executions and the convicts changing their last wishes, such as where they wanted to be buried and their religion.

The Melbourne lawyer for chan and Sukumaran, Julian McMahon, said the focus of the judicial review, which had been filed in the courts, was on rehabilitation.

"The matter is now before the courts according to the rule of law which is a very important thing to understand," he said.

"My clients have now been in jail for 10 years and slowly with the help of the Indonesian jail system their lives have been turned around and improved greatly.

"They are a wonderful example of what can happen in the jail system. Obviously there is no advantage to anybody in executing reformed prisoners."

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, January 30, 2015

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