Mary Jane Veloso was spared from execution in a drug trafficking case in Indonesia. The mother of two, who originally traveled to Indonesia to work as a maid, was saved just moments before her execution.
Veloso, a Filipina worker, had traveled to various countries in order to raise a living for herself and her two children. The mother was recruited by Maria Kristina Sergio to work as a maid in Malaysia, but when she arrived she was told that there was no job opening. Veloso was sent back, but on her way back to Indonesia, authorities discovered half a million dollars worth of heroin in her luggage. Those who protest for Mary Jane Veloso's freedom claim that she was unaware of the drugs in her bag, which may have been put there by her recruiter.
Veloso has been in custody since 2010. She would have been executed via firing squad, like eight others before her, if it were not for a change in the case. CNN Philippines reported that Maria Kristina Sergio, the purported recruiter of Veloso, surrendered herself to authorities on Tuesday. Sergio claims she turned herself in after she received anonymous death threats over the phone. She currently faces charges of illegal recruitment, human trafficking, and fraud; Sergio insists that she is innocent.
Though Ms. Veloso's sentence has not changed, she has escaped execution for now. Her family as well as Filipino supporters celebrated her delayed sentence. Prominent figures in the Philippines urged the Indonesian President Joko Widodo to reconsider Veloso's sentence. Philippine President Benigno Aquino personally asked Widodo to alter Veloso's punishment. Fighter Manny Pacquiao also pleaded with the Indonesian President to show mercy. "I am begging and knocking on your kind heart that Your Excellency will grant executive clemency to her," said Pacquiao.
Ultimately, President Widodo exercised his power to temporarily spare the mother from execution, claiming that it is important to allow the case to develop in the Philippines. Widodo has brought much controversy around Indonesia's punishment of drug traffickers. In an attempt to battle drug trafficking, the President has enforced a strict campaign to punish drug traffickers. Both Australia and Brazil withdrew their ambassadors to the country after their citizens were executed on drug charges this week.
