Indonesia’s Widodo says execution of Mary Jane Veloso only postponed

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said their government only gave Filipino Mary Jane Veloso a temporary reprieve from her scheduled execution, a report from The Jakarta Post said Wednesday.

In the report, Widodo was quoted as saying that it (reprieve) was a response to a request made by the Philippine government in relation to alleged human trafficking. 

 

"There's a letter from the Philippines [explaining about] human trafficking. It is a postponement [of the execution], not an annulment," he said.

 

The Jakarta Post report also said the Indonesian president denied that the decision was made because the Philippine government made a phone call minutes before the planned execution.

 

Widodo said he had discussed the issue with President Benigno Aquino III on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday, the report added.

 

Veloso, 30, was spared from execution early Wednesday, while eight other drug convicts were executed in Indonesia. All their cases involved illegal drugs. 
 

On Tuesday morning, Aquino proposed to the Indonesian government that she be turned into a witness to identify the criminal group that used her to transport illegal drugs. 

 

The request came as Maria Kristina Sergio, the alleged recruiter that led her into bringing a suitcase laden with 2.6 kilograms of heroin to Indonesia in April 2010, turned herself in to Philippine authorities.

 

Upon news of the stay in execution, Indonesia's Attorney General Tony Spontana said Aquino's request was instrumental for the granting of the reprieve. 
 

Meanwhile, Veloso's legal team will be taking this as an opportunity to prove her innocence anew, a separate Jakarta Post report said. 
 

Agus Salim, who is part of the legal team, said Veloso's family -- while "happy" with the news -- knows "this doesn't mean her execution is canceled."

 

He added they will try to file a third appeal after investigation begins on Sergio.

 

"We want to prove that she was just a migrant worker who was trafficked and became a drug courier," he said.

 

He pointed out, however, that the difference between the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court regulations "is hampering efforts to find the truth." The Supreme Court says a case review appeal can only be filed once.

 

"Everyone knows she had no intention [to bring the drugs]. She does not have to be free, we are just trying to find the lightest sentence we can get for her and avoid the death penalty," he said. — Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/RSJ, GMA News