Palace appeals to Indonesian president: Take another look at Mary Jane’s case

Malacañang on Wednesday appealed to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to take another look at the case of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling.
 
At a press briefing, presidential spokesman Secretary Edwin Lacierda said the administration is still hoping that Widodo will grant President Benigno Aquino III’s request for executive clemency for Veloso.
 
“Hopefully, President Widodo would look at this matter separate and independently and based on the merits of the case—whether it’s true that Mary Jane Veloso was hoodwinked into carrying that particular piece of luggage,” Lacierda told reporters.
 
The Palace official also admitted that Veloso’s fate “is not so much a legal” matter at present, although the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) still plans to seek a second judicial review of the Filipina convict’s case.
 
“We can only promote. We can only request. We can only convince them of the rightness or the justness of the case of Mary Jane Veloso,” Lacierda said.
 
Veloso is to be executed by firing squad after Indonesia’s Supreme Court junked the DFA’s request for judicial review.
 
Veloso was arrested at the Yogyakarta Airport in April 2010 for allegedly trafficking 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She entered Indonesia from Malaysia as a tourist.
 
‘Dastardly act’
 
Lacierda also assured the Indonesian government that the Philippines is determined to prosecute individuals who supposedly tricked Veloso into smuggling drugs.
 
"While the Philippine government does the best in asking the Indonesian government to spare the life of Ms. Mary Jane Veloso, we will go after those people responsible in doing this dastardly act of sacrificing Mary Jane Veloso to do this act, which she shared that she was not aware of,” the Palace official said.
 
On Tuesday, the DFA announced that President Aquino had written Widodo last week asking for executive clemency for the convicted Filipina.
 
The Indonesian leader, however, earlier said that countries with nationals facing death sentence in Indonesia should respect the country’s death penalty stance.
 
Vice President Jejomar Binay, the presidential adviser on OFW concerns, said he will try to personally appeal to Widodo to spare Veloso's life during the ongoing Asian-African Summit in Bandung, Indonesia. 

Binay left for Indonesia earlier in the day. — RSJ, GMA News

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