Jakarta: A Philippine woman who was spared from execution on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia is set to be transferred to her homeland, officials in Manila and Jakarta said on Wednesday, after nearly 15 years of protests and outcry over her case in both countries.
Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina domestic worker, was arrested in Yogyakarta in 2010 for allegedly smuggling 2.6 kg of heroin from Malaysia into Indonesia. She denied the charge, saying she was tricked by a recruiter to bring a suitcase with the drugs hidden in its seams.
Indonesian and Philippine officials announced on Wednesday that a deal has been reached to fulfill Manila’s longstanding request for Veloso to be brought back home to serve her sentence in her country.
“We are doing a transfer of prisoners. We will transfer the convict, and the Philippines will implement the sentence handed down by the Indonesian court,” Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for law, human rights, immigration and correctional institutions, said in a video statement.
“We have submitted the conditions (for the transfer), and it has been accepted by the Philippine government,” he said. “Once she is returned to the Philippines, it is within the authority of President Marcos to grant her pardon … We remain consistent in our ways; Indonesia has never granted pardon for drug convicts.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday morning, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the first announcement that Manila had reached an agreement to bring Veloso back to the Philippines after more than a decade of negotiations with the Indonesian government.
“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to President Prabowo Subianto and the Indonesian government for their goodwill,” he said. “Thank you, Indonesia. We look forward to welcoming Mary Jane home.”
Indonesia has one of the world’s harshest anti-narcotics laws, and drug trafficking is punishable by death.
Veloso had been due to be executed by firing squad in 2015 after an Indonesian court convicted her of drug trafficking and gave her the death penalty. But she was granted a stay of execution at the 11th hour to testify in a human trafficking case against her recruiter in the Philippines.
The case has sparked numerous protests in both Indonesia and the Philippines, where people demanded Jakarta spare her from the firing squad. The Philippine government has also sought clemency for Veloso in high-level bilateral meetings, including when former President Joko Widodo visited Manila in January.
Should Veloso’s transfer proceed, it would remove the possibility of her facing an execution, as the Philippines has long abolished the death penalty.
