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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.

Government helping Indonesians in Malaysia overturn death sentence

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JAKARTA: The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry is striving to help Indonesian citizens in Malaysia overturn their death sentences following Malaysia's abolition of the mandatory death penalty, the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) informed, reported ANTARA news agency.

In a statement received here on Friday, KSP expert staff Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin said that the ministry's quick response is a form of implementation of the president's mandate for protecting the people.

“The president has always emphasised that the state must be present to protect the Indonesian people, both at home and abroad,“ she added.


She said that Malaysia's abolition of the mandatory death penalty has retroactive effect.

This will allow the Foreign Ministry to help Indonesian nationals who got involved in drug cases due to ignorance or coercion, or after falling victim to human trafficking to get their death sentence changed, she explained. However, this will depend on the role of the accused in the cases they have been indicted in, she added.

“If they are not part of a network that produces, but (acted) solely as couriers, then the death penalty can be reconsidered,“ she said.

She reminded that the decision to help overturn the death penalty for Indonesian citizens in Malaysia does not mean that the Indonesian government will take over their cases.

However, the Indonesian government has the right to provide assistance to ensure fair and just judicial proceedings.

“This good practice is a concrete step of the commitment of President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in increasing cooperation in protecting Indonesian workers in Malaysia,“ Dzuhayatin said.

She then stressed the importance of early prevention to check human trafficking. According to her, all stakeholders, from upstream to downstream, starting from families, villages, sub-districts, and districts, need to educate prospective Indonesian migrants on working abroad safely and productively. 

Source: Bernama, Staff, September 22, 2023


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
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