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AGO still waiting for notification on Veloso's role as witness
The Attorney General's Office is still waiting for an official notification from the government of the Philippines in relation to the testimony needed from death row drug convict Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso
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he Attorney General's Office is still waiting for an official notification from the government of the Philippines in relation to the testimony needed from death row drug convict Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso.
AGO spokesman Tony T. Spontana said on Tuesday that the Philippines government had previously asked for Veloso to testify from May 8 to 14.
"Mary Jane [Veloso] herself has already agreed to testify; we are just waiting for official notification from the Philippines," he said.
Veloso was among nine death row inmates scheduled to face a firing squad last Wednesday for drug trafficking convictions.
She was arrested in possession of 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta in 2010.
The Attorney General's Office said that Veloso's execution had been postponed after the Philippine government said Veloso was needed to testify as a witness concerning her alleged human trafficker, Maria Kristina Sergio, who turned herself in to authorities last Tuesday.
Although Veloso had since been returned to the Wirogunan Prison in Yogyakarta last Wednesday, Tony reiterated that she would not be allowed out of the country to testify and had offered the Philippines government the option of either their police questioning Veloso in Yogyakarta or for her to testify through video conferencing.
"It seems that they want both. We heard that they will send their investigators here to question [Veloso] and also want her to testify via video conference," he said, adding that the Philippines government had agreed to cover all the expenses.
Tony also said that even though the Philippines government had requested for Veloso to testify on May 8 and 14, there was still a chance that the dates would change.
"As long as the preparations are 100 percent done, we are open to change. We are just waiting for their official notification," he said. (hhr) (++++)
