A woman from the Philippines who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Indonesia and was nearly executed by a firing squad has been released and arrived home to Manila on Wednesday.
Mary Jane Veloso’s release follows a deal between Indonesia and the Philippines and comes after widespread public sympathy for Veloso, who has always maintained her innocence. Veloso says she had been duped into carrying a suitcase containing drugs as she travelled to a new job abroad.
Veloso, now aged 39, was first arrested in the city of Yogyakarta in 2010 after being found with 2.6 kg of heroin concealed in a suitcase. She was almost executed by a firing squad in 2015 but received a last-minute reprieve when the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking. Veloso was a prosecution witness in that case.
She spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia.
Many people in both Indonesia and the Philippines have connected with her story as a single mother who had gone overseas for a job to create a better life for her children.
Her transfer from Indonesia comes just days after five Australian men from the ‘Bali Nine’ were sent home to Australia after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.
Shortly before her scheduled departure from Jakarta, Veloso thanked the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr for coming to an agreement on her case.
“For almost 15 years I was separated from my children and parents, and I could not see my children grow up,” she told Associated Press. “I wish to be given an opportunity to take care of my children and to be close to my parents.”
Her repatriation to the Philippines removes any possibility of execution as the country has abolished the death penalty. As part of the agreement between the two nations, Veloso would serve her remaining sentence in the Philippines. A decision on whether clemency will be given to her lands with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Veloso’s case struck a chord with many women in the Philippines, where it is common for women to seek work overseas as domestic helpers.