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RP will not intervene on citizen's behalf
The Republic of the Philippines has pledged not to interfere with the death penalty leveled against one of its citizens for drug trafficking while Acehnese officials urged the Indonesian government to speed up the executions
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he Republic of the Philippines has pledged not to interfere with the death penalty leveled against one of its citizens for drug trafficking while Acehnese officials urged the Indonesian government to speed up the executions.
Representative of the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia Ramon CH conveyed to the Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office that the Philippine government would never interfere with the death penalty handed down by the Sleman District Court against Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso for smuggling drugs.
'Philippine Embassy envoy Ramon CH only said to us that whatever Mary was found guilty of that their only wish was that the execution be delayed,' Sri Anggreani A., the prosecutor head in Veloso's case, said on Monday.
Ramon made his statement while he was accompanying Veloso's family when they visited their daughter on death row at the Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta.
Anggreani said the Attorney General's Office had asked her to provide assistance to Veloso's family, two staff members from the Philippine Embassy, a staff member from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and two priests who visited Veloso at the Wirogunan Penitentiary from Feb. 19 until Feb. 21.
During the three-day period, Veloso's father Cesar S. Veloso, mother C. Veloso, sister Maritas Laurente and two sons Mark Danielle and Mark Darren all came to visit her.
'The family also expressed appreciation to the Attorney General's Office for giving them the chance to meet Veloso,' said Anggreani.
Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office General Crimes Affairs assistant Tri Subardiman said Veloso was not included on the list of convicts who would be executed on Nusakambangan prison island, Cilacap, in the near future, as prosecutors were still waiting for a case review decision filed by Veloso at the Sleman District Court.
Veloso filed for the case review several weeks ago. The Sleman District Court is still waiting for Veloso's clemency documents from the Supreme Court.
Veloso was caught as she was trying to smuggle in 2.6 kilograms of heroin at the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta on April 25, 2010. She arrived from Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, on an AirAsia flight.
Meanwhile, angered by comments made by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott about his country's donations during the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, students staged a rally in Banda Aceh asking the government to speed up the execution of the convicts.
'We urge the government and President Joko ['Jokowi'] Widodo to hurry up and punish the Australians in order to show that [Indonesia] will not be undermined by other countries,' said the chairman of the Aceh branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI).
Separately, following a one-week delay, it seems as though the transfer of the two Australian drug smugglers, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, to Nusakambang prison island will be conducted this week.
The chief of the Bali Prosecutor's Office, Momock Bambang Samiarso, confirmed that the transfer would be done this week if Nusakambangan prison island had already prepared their isolation rooms.
Meanwhile, the Ninth Regional Military Command (Kodam IX) Udayana commander Maj. Gen. Torry Djohar Banguntoro said on Monday that the Indonesian Military had prepared a squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets to guard the transfer of the two Australian drug traffickers on death row from Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali to Nusakambangan prison island.
' Ni Komang Erviani also contributed to this article from Denpasar
