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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 executes Pakistani for drug trafficking

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Public execution in Saudi Arabia
Public execution in Saudi Arabia

Saudi authorities executed a Pakistani man on Sunday for attempting to smuggle drugs into the ultra-conservative kingdom, the interior ministry said. 

Up to 129 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year, including the latest execution, compared with 87 for the whole of 2014, according to AFP tallies. 

Mohammed Sharif was arrested while attempting to smuggle heroin into the country hidden in his stomach, the ministry said in a statement published on the SPA state news agency. 

He was executed in the Quwaiya district, near Riyadh. 

Most people sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia are beheaded, but sometimes executions are carried out by firing squad. 

Amnesty International on Tuesday appealed for a moratorium on executions in Saudi Arabia, criticising the kingdom's "deeply flawed judicial system". 

Under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic legal code, drug trafficking, murder, armed robbery, rape, homosexuality and apostasy are all punishable by death. 

Amnesty says Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific executioners, along with China, Iran, Iraq and the United States. 

Source: Agence France-Presse, August 31, 2015


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Location: Saudi Arabia
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