Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina sentenced to death by an Indonesian court for drug trafficking in 2010, has been spared from her scheduled execution Wednesday morning, Jakarta Post reported.
According to the report, the Indonesian government carried out the executions of eight other death row convicts despite ardent pleas from the international community.
Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze, Ghanaian Martin Anderson were executed by firing squad at 12:30 a.m. (Jakarta time) at the Nusakambangan prison island near Cilacap in Central Java.
The last-minute reprieve was given after Veloso’s alleged recruiter, Maria Cristina Sergio, surrendered to Philippine authorities Tuesday morning, hours before the expiration of Indonesia’s 72-hour execution notice.
Tony Spontana, spokesperson of the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office told Jakarta Post that Veloso’s execution has been “postponed due to the request of President [Benigno Aquino III] in relation to an alleged human trafficker who recently gave herself up in the Philippines.”
Veloso, 30, was arrested with 2.6 kg of heroin at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta in 2010. The Indonesian Supreme Court rejected her two previous case review appeals.
