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Migrant workers in HK protest Veloso's imminent execution
Philippine and Indonesian migrant workers rallied outside the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong on Tuesday to demand that the government spare Philippine national Mary Jane Veloso from the firing squad in Central Java
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hilippine and Indonesian migrant workers rallied outside the Indonesian Consulate in Hong Kong on Tuesday to demand that the government spare Philippine national Mary Jane Veloso from the firing squad in Central Java.
The protestors delivered speeches and carried an array of posters demanding that Veloso's life be spared, with messages such as 'Save Mary Jane' and 'Mary Jane is not the criminal' boldly written on them.
'This is a symbol of our solidarity [with Veloso],' protester Erni said in both English and Bahasa Indonesia during the rally, as quoted by Antara news agency.
After the protest, the group handed a petition to Indonesian deputy consul Elvis Napitupulu, detailing their opposition to the death penalty as an answer to reducing crime, especially involving drugs.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Consul-General to Hong Kong Chalief Akbar said that Tuesday's protest was the third against the death penalty, adding that all previous protests had been orderly and peaceful, with no consulate work being disrupted.
Chalief said he could only hand the petition to the central government, but that the executions were a foregone conclusion. 'The executions have already been decided. Now we must simply respect Indonesia's legal sovereignty,' he said.
Veloso was a Philippine migrant worker caught with 2.6 kg of heroin in her luggage at Yogyakarta's Adisucipto International Airport in April 2010. She was sentenced to death in October of the same year.
Veloso, along with eight other foreigners, is facing imminent execution on Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java, after all her appeals and clemency pleas were rejected. (dyl)(+++)
