Philippines to exhaust all efforts to save Filipina on Indonesia’s death row

BANGKOK: -- The Philippine government has vowed to exhaust all efforts to save a Filipina domestic worker from the death chamber in Indonesia over a drug offense, according to Manilla Bulletin.

Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will continue to extend legal assistance to Mary Jane Veloso and defend her rights amid an ongoing review of her case by Indonesia’s Supreme Court.

Veloso was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death by firing squad in Indonesia in 2010. She was earlier caught with suitcases containing heroin at the airport.

Coloma noted the execution of Veloso has been deferred after her case was elevated to the Indonesia’s Supreme Court for further review. The high court will reportedly decide whether Veloso’s death sentence can be reduced to life imprisonment.

Based on the latest from the DFA, Coloma said the Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta formally endorsed to the Supreme Court in Jakarta the case of Veloso for judicial review following the hearings last March 3 and 4. The Philippines earlier appealed for a further review on Veloso’s case, particularly questioning the accuracy of translation in her trial wherein she was only given a student translator, not a qualified court translator.

Coloma said the DFA is waiting for the word from the Philippine embassy in Indonesia on the schedule of the first hearing by the Supreme Court on Veloso’s case.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/philippines-to-exhaust-all-efforts-to-save-filipina-on-indonesias-death-row


-- Thai PBS 2015-03-09

There seems to be no doubt she had the drugs so whats the problem with translation.

Execute her.....scum...suitcases full of heroin.....think of the destruction downstream of people using this stuff...

no mercy...put her up on the wooden cross and blow the bitch away

Yes I rather agree. The trials alone for drug dealers are costing a fortune then to keep them in prison for decades costs the taxpayer again. Yes execution sounds harsh but it is time the people on this planet earned their seat at the table of life otherwise drugs murder rape convictions should end in execution. The hard working taxpayer should not be on the hook for trials life jail sentences appeals and all that other associated crap

Absolutely everyone knows the deal with drug trafficking in Indonesia. Yet they still do it. The death penalty was implemented into Indonesian law to act as a deterrent, however it's not very effective. Time to change?

No one can deny the "war" on drugs has been an abysmal failure.

Proponents of the idea that shooting this woman would, or even could, deliver real benefit, turn a relaxed, blind eye to the rotten absurdity of having the ultimate penalty administered by a shambolic, demonstrably corrupt judicial system.

Im a hardliner as well when it comes to paying the penalties. However I read about her case and it there was ever a case for a dumb, desperate person being duped, this is it.

Yes I rather agree. The trials alone for drug dealers are costing a fortune then to keep them in prison for decades costs the taxpayer again. Yes execution sounds harsh but it is time the people on this planet earned their seat at the table of life otherwise drugs murder rape convictions should end in execution. The hard working taxpayer should not be on the hook for trials life jail sentences appeals and all that other associated crap

Fair enough, But if you are going to be just, you must also execute everyone who purchases drugs from a drug dealer. Eliminating the drug user will eliminate the market. No market, no dealers, no mules, no DEAs. Capitalism at its finest!

Eliminating a drug dealer simply creates an opening for others waiting in the wings to step up. Besides, has anyone ever been able to eliminate the dealers of illegal goods? Whiskey? Exotic animals? Ivory? Gold? Cigarettes? Women? Children? High-Powered weapons and ammunition? Secret government documents? Pirated copyright and patented goods?... etc. It is like the magic brooms in Disney's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Chop one up and each piece forms a new one.

Someone mentioned that 'the war on drugs is failing'. It seems the the death penalty is not an adequate deterrent. For the Fillapina lady, perhaps she was duped, and probably very poor, clemency perhaps. The two Australian w*nkers, death, they knew exactly what they were doing. Perhaps if these drugs were offered at clinics for FREE for the registered users, that would remove some of the crime form the streets. Random testing for drugs at nightclubs and in the street, if found to be using any illegal substance and NOT a registered drug user, immediate imprisonment with a mandatory sentence of community service and/or prison. Perhaps forensic scientists can design a simple , quick, easy to use method of testing, apart from urine testing, that can be employed. Plus a major educational drive on social media and television about the dangers of illegal substance, alchohol and nicotine abuse. Target children, perhaps we can educate the next generation away from the use of drugs. Legalise pot. It's probably less harmful than nico

tine

Im a hardliner as well when it comes to paying the penalties. However I read about her case and it there was ever a case for a dumb, desperate person being duped, this is it.

Agreed, and some of the bile in this thread is strangely absent from the many threads on the Bali 9 ringleaders - in that instance, I believe they knew exactly what they were doing and that has been reinforced by the interviews they've given over the years. If this woman fabricated her story in the hope of being shown some clemency, how is she any different to the Bali 9 couriers who were originally given death sentences only to have those sentences commuted to life imprisonment on appeal ? They wasted no time pointing the finger at Chan and Sukumaran - surely they had to know this would mean a guaranteed death penalty for both of them .....

The real victims here are the families, particularly her children. How do you tell kids their mother wont be coming home, ever ? She made a very poor decision but it wasnt with a view to being able to being able to party with the cocaine set - i'd be interested to hear about the employer who failed to meet her at the airport. As low acts go, that's right up there - he would have known she had little or no money, making her easy prey for the people who eventually sealed her fate.

Im a hardliner as well when it comes to paying the penalties. However I read about her case and it there was ever a case for a dumb, desperate person being duped, this is it.

Agreed, and some of the bile in this thread is strangely absent from the many threads on the Bali 9 ringleaders - in that instance, I believe they knew exactly what they were doing and that has been reinforced by the interviews they've given over the years. If this woman fabricated her story in the hope of being shown some clemency, how is she any different to the Bali 9 couriers who were originally given death sentences only to have those sentences commuted to life imprisonment on appeal ? They wasted no time pointing the finger at Chan and Sukumaran - surely they had to know this would mean a guaranteed death penalty for both of them .....

The real victims here are the families, particularly her children. How do you tell kids their mother wont be coming home, ever ? She made a very poor decision but it wasnt with a view to being able to being able to party with the cocaine set - i'd be interested to hear about the employer who failed to meet her at the airport. As low acts go, that's right up there - he would have known she had little or no money, making her easy prey for the people who eventually sealed her fate.

And what about the Frenchman, Serge Atlaoui? His case seems strange, and involves some doubt, to say the least. Indonesia's judicial system possesses attributes that make it difficult to be confident in the justice it delivers. For sentences of death to be delivered by such a system seems gruesomely ludicrous, pathetically reminiscent of Monty Python's witch drowning.

Proponents of the idea that shooting this woman would, or even could, deliver real benefit, turn a relaxed, blind eye to the rotten absurdity of having the ultimate penalty administered by a shambolic, demonstrably corrupt judicial system.

You are referring to the Philippines Judicial System, of course......