APRIL 24 — Philippines Vice President, Jejomar Binay said on Thursday (April 23) that he had made an appeal for mercy on behalf of a Filipina currently on death row in Indonesia.
Mary Jane Veloso, a mother of two children, was arrested with 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Yogyakarta airport in 2010. Her plea for presidential clemency and judicial review were rejected.
Binay, who was in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, for the Asia-Africa conference met his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla on the sidelines this week to appeal for mercy on behalf of the Philippine prisoner.
“I’d always reiterated to all the officials that I’d talked to, that we give the highest regard to the Indonesian government in its adherence to the rule of law, and that it’s a judicial process. So let me just say again, it’s more of a humanitarian appeal,” Binay said.
When asked if he anticipated any diplomatic fallout between the neighboring states if the execution went ahead, he said: “I doubt it.”
On Friday (April 24) Indonesia asked foreign embassies to go to a maximum security prison for the expected execution of 10 mainly foreign drug convicts, although an official 72-hour notice of execution has not been given yet, foreign officials said.
Veloso is one of the 10 drug convicts who will be facing execution by firing squad on the prison island of Nusakambangan in West Java. Others on the list include citizens from France, Brazil, Australia, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia.
Veloso was transferred to the maximum security prison on early Friday (April 24), signaling the execution could be near. She was the last to be transferred among the group of ten.
French President Francois Hollande warned Indonesia on Wednesday (April 22) the execution would damage ties between the two countries, according to media reports.
The Australian government has repeatedly pleaded for clemency for Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo has refused to budge.
Indonesia has harsh punishments for drug crimes and resumed executions in 2013 after a five-year gap. Six have been carried out so far this year. (Reuters)
