Manila, Philippines—A Philippine woman sentenced to death in Indonesia on drug charges will be handed over to Manila following years of “long and difficult” negotiations, President Ferdinand Marcos said Wednesday.
Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin and later sentenced to death by firing squad.
The mother-of-two’s case sparked an uproar in the Philippines, with her family and supporters saying she was innocent and had been set up by an international drug syndicate.
They maintained she was duped into signing up for a non-existent job abroad as a domestic worker and was not aware the suitcase her recruiter gave her contained hidden drugs.
The Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for Veloso in 2015 after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking in which Veloso was named as a prosecution witness.
“After over a decade of diplomacy and consultations with the Indonesian government, we managed to delay her execution long enough to reach an agreement to finally bring her back to the Philippines,” Marcos said in a statement.
Indonesia’s law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said President Prabowo Subianto had “approved the transfer of prisoner policy” on Veloso’s case.
He added that the transfer was likely to take place next month.
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told reporters in Manila that the aim of the government “would be not just for her to be transferred but for the president, our president, to be able to issue clemency.”
He said Jakarta has not sought anything in exchange for Veloso’s transfer of detention.
Marcos said in his statement that Veloso’s “story resonates with many: a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life.”
“While she was held accountable under Indonesian law, she remains a victim of her circumstances,” he said.
