Source: SFGate
“Indonesian authorities have returned a Filipina woman to the Philippines who had been on death row and nearly executed by firing squad in Indonesia in 2015, after a longstanding request from her home country. Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso had spent almost 15 years in prison for drug trafficking but won a last-minute reprieve that will lead to her testimony exposing how a criminal syndicate duped her into being an unwitting accomplice and drug courier. Veloso was moved late Sunday from a female prison in Yogyakarta to Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta, then escorted Tuesday night for a flight to Manila. Her repatriation was made possible by ‘a practical arrangement’ for the transfer of prisoners signed between the two countries on Dec. 6. Her transfer removes the possibility of execution. The Philippines, Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation, has long abolished the death penalty.” (12/17/24)