Indonesia’s Widodo ‘sympathetic’ to PNoy’s appeal for Veloso’s life –Palace

Indonesian President Joko Widodo was sympathetic when he heard President Benigno Aquino III's appeal for the life of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina sentenced to death in Indonesia over drug charges. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. issued this statement on Monday, after Aquino pesonally appealed to Widodo for "humanitarian consideration" this morning. Coloma added that Widodo consulted with Indonesia's attorney general on legal issues, and pledged to resume conversations with Aquino on Veloso's case later in the day. The 30-year-old Veloso is set to be executed by firing squad on Tuesday. She was transferred to Indonesia's execution island last Friday. The Philippine government has already filed its second appeal for judicial review on Veloso's case, hoping to commute her sentence to life imprisonment Manila first sought an appeal last March, questioning the competence of the translator provided to Veloso during the trial. It was rejected by Indonesia's Supreme Court, but its laws allow death penalty cases to be appealed and reviewed despite a final ruling. The second appeal includes proof that Veloso is not a drug smuggler based on the findings of a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency team who visited her in prison last month. Veloso, a mother of two, was arrested in 2010 at the Yogyakarta International Airport after 2.6 kilograms of heroin were found in her luggage. —KBK, GMA News

Nagpakita umano ng simpatiya si Indonesian President Joko Widodo nang umapela sa kanya si Pangulong Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) kaugnay ng kaso ni Mary Jane Veloso.

Posted by 24 Oras on Sunday, April 26, 2015

Source: GMA NETWORK