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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.

Indonesia secures release of citizen on death row in Saudi Arabia

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Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has brought back an Indonesian woman who was sentenced to death for murder in Saudi Arabia and returned her to her family in Bangkalan, East Java.

The woman, identified by the initials HMM, was detained by the Saudi authorities and sentenced to death in 2009 for killing her Saudi husband, according to a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

The ministry and the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, made several efforts to resolve the case through diplomatic, litigation, and non-litigation means and to secure HMM's release.

"The KJRI in Jeddah provided assistance to HMM during the investigation six times and the trial 13 times," said the statement.

In addition to providing legal assistance, the KJRI filed an appeal with the High Court in Jeddah and a cassation request with the Supreme Court in Riyadh. Its officials also regularly met with HMM at the Jeddah prison.

The KJRI also approached the victim's heirs both directly and through the local Institute for Forgiveness and Reconciliation and made a mediation request to the Mecca Governor's Office.

"The efforts succeeded in reducing the legal demands for imprisonment and payment of fines," it said.

This year, HMM completed her 15-year prison sentence and paid a fine of 400,000 riyals (around US$106,500) with the help of a Saudi Arabian benefactor.

She was deported to Indonesia on November 28. She arrived in her hometown in Bangkalan on November 30, according to the ministry.

This year, the ministry sought the release of 26 Indonesian citizens facing the death sentence. However, the number of citizens involved in crimes inviting the death penalty increased by 20.

Currently, 155 Indonesian citizens facing the death penalty abroad—the majority of them in Malaysia—have been provided advocacy assistance by the Indonesian government.

Source: antaranews.com, Staff, December 2, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________








"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: Saudi Arabia
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