MANILA/JAKARTA (Reuters) – A Filipino who was pardoned from execution on drug-trafficking charges in Indonesia in 2015 will be extradited to the Philippines after years of negotiations between the two Southeast Asian neighbors, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Wednesday.
Mary Jane Veloso, a domestic helper and mother of two, was arrested in the city of Yogyakarta, for carrying 2.6 kg (5.73 pounds) of heroin hidden in her suitcase in 2010.
Veloso was excused from going before the firing squad at the last minute in 2015 after Philippine authorities asked then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo to allow him to testify against members of human and drug rings.
The execution of eight other drug-related prisoners continued, and at the time Widodo described Veloso’s pardon as a stopgap. Widodo’s term as president ended last month.
“After 10 years of negotiation and negotiation with the Indonesian government, we were able to delay the execution long enough to make an agreement to bring him back to the Philippines,” Marcos said in a statement.
“This event is a sign of the depth of our country’s partnership with Indonesia – we are united in a shared commitment to justice and compassion,” Marcos said, thanking Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for his ‘goodness’.
Prabowo’s office said on Wednesday that Veloso will serve his entire sentence in the Philippines and the reason for the transfer was “diplomacy and mutual cooperation in law enforcement”.
Veloso had always maintained his innocence, claiming he did not know the drug mule because of the Filipino recruiter. She had previously worked as a domestic worker in Dubai, but left to escape an abusive employer, her legal team had said.
Court records say that the security guard asked Veloso to fly to Yogyakarta from Manila to deliver a suitcase to another man. Officers then found packages of heroin wrapped in paper hidden in the lining of her bag and arrested her.
Indonesia has brutal anti-drug laws and has killed several foreigners, including two Australians who were leaders of the Bali Nine trafficking ring in 2015.
(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; Editing by John Mair and Saad Sayeed)