Veloso recruiters to be arraigned for human trafficking on Thursday

The two alleged recruiters of Mary Jane Veloso are set to be arraigned for human trafficking on Thursday, February 11, in Nueva Ecija.
The Baloc Regional Trial Court Branch 37 set the arraignment date after it junked with finality the motions of Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao to defer their arraignment.
"Pre-trial scheduled Mar 9," said lawyer Edre Olalia of the National Union of People's Lawyers, a group assisting Veloso in her case.
Sergio and Lacanilao were accused of sending Veloso to Indonesia in April 2010 with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her suitcase.
Veloso was arrested and sentenced to death, but her execution was put on hold on the last minute in April last year to allow her to testify against her alleged recruiters.
Also set for Thursday is the cross examination of Lorna Valisno, a prosecution witness in the large scale illegal recruitment case against Sergio and Lacanilao.
The prosecution said Valisno is one of Sergio and Lacanilao's victims.
Olalia said the prosecution may also present its second witness, who is also a victim of the two.
Sergio and Lacanilao, who surrendered to authorities last year, had earlier pleaded not guilty to the illegal recruitment and estafa charges filed against them. —KBK, GMA News

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