Family to visit Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia prison

The family of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina facing death penalty in Indonesia for smuggling huge quantities of drugs, is scheduled to fly to the Southeast Asian nation on Thursday to visit her in prison, a senior Foreign Affairs official said Wednesday.

Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus Yabes said the department has arranged for five members of Veloso’s family—her mother, two children and siblings—to visit Mary Jane in prison in Yogyakarta.

“They will stay there for one week but we hope they could stay longer,” Yabes said.

Veloso, a 30-year-old single mother, was among the several foreign prisoners, including two Australians, who were sentenced to die this year in Indonesia by firing squad on drug-related charges. She was arrested at the Yogyakarta Airport on April 25, 2010 for carrying a suitcase loaded with 2.6 kilograms of heroin.

She claimed she was tricked by a family friend who also served as her recruiter into bringing the suitcase in Indonesia.

Indonesia announced that it will carry out the executions of foreign death row prisoners after the conclusion of the Asia-Africa conference in Jakarta on April 24.

Manila said it will file a second judicial review of Veloso’s case before Friday in the hope of saving the her life.

An earlier appeal was filed by the Philippine government on behalf of Veloso before Indonesia’s Supreme Court, but it was denied. The appeal, which seeks to commute Veloso’s case to life imprisonment, questioned the capability of the translator who was hired during the trial.

Apart from the judicial review, President Benigno Aquino III also sought clemency for Veloso through a letter sent to Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo last week.

It was the second time that Aquino wrote to the Indonesian government to spare Veloso’s life. The first letter was sent in 2011 to then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. —KBK, GMA News

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