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Relatives take quiet steps to save convicts
Never give up: Philippine Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a death-row inmate who has been found guilty for drug trafficking, attends a court hearing for her case review in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Central Java, last year
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span class="inline inline-center">Never give up: Philippine Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a death-row inmate who has been found guilty for drug trafficking, attends a court hearing for her case review in Sleman, Yogyakarta, Central Java, last year.(JP/Bambang Muryanto)
Celia Fiesta Veloso conquered her fear and embarked on a world tour in search of support to help save her daughter, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, from the death sentence. Mary Jane, a Philippine national, is facing death by firing squad in Indonesia as punishment for drug smuggling.
The 56-year old Filipino woman refused to let poverty and a lack of education from holding her back from doing what she can to help her youngest daughter.
Celia has been traveling to national and international forums on human trafficking for the past year advocating for justice for her daughter. On June 21, Celia attended the three-day 6th World Congress against the death penalty, taking to the stage with activists and diplomats from around the world in Oslo, Norway. She had one message for the audience: Mary Jane is innocent and she needs help.
“I cannot thank President Widodo enough for sparing the life of my daughter,” Celia told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the gathering, referring to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s last minute decision to scrap Mary Jane’s name from the April 2015 execution schedule.
Celia’s eyes sparkled as she recalled the kindness of the inmates and prison guards at Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta who had raised money to help pay for Mary Jane’s family to visit her in prison in 2013. She said she was amazed by the love and support shown toward her daughter by the Indonesian public.
But, Ceilia was unable to hide the anxiety she feels, triggered by the Indonesian government’s announcement that a third wave of executions will be carried out soon.
“We remain in a constant state of fear, the fear is amplified every time we hear news from Indonesia stating that the government will execute prisoners. We will continue to ask President Widodo to let Mary Jane go free. We will do anything to get our message to the President,” she said.
Mary Jane is currently housed in the Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta. She was arrested in April 2010, caught attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in a suitcase. Mary Jane’s recruiter surrendered, a development that contributed to the postponement of execution.
Mary Jane’s family remain in limbo, living in constant fear that the mother of two might be next in line for execution.
Sabine Atlaoui, also lives in a state of uncertainty regarding the fate of her husband Serge Atlaoui, who has been detained on Nusa Kambangan, West Java, for the past ten years, “It’s a daily torture. I am constantly waiting for information. I am searching for information,” she told The Post.
“I don’t know that to say to my children when they ask for information because there is no information. There is no reliable source of information. There’s no place to go for confirmation when we see statements regarding impending executions. It is very painful,” Sabine said.
The police accused Serge of working as a “chemist” at a factory found producing ecstasy in Tangerang, Banten, following a raid in 2005. He was convicted in 2007 of possessing 138 kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine), 290 kilograms of ketamine and 316 drums of precursor substances.
Like Mary Jane, Serge also escaped execution last year. Sabine learned about the decision to scrap her husband’s name from the list at last minute. We still don’t know the exact reason his name was removed, none of the family members know, she said.
Like Celia, Sabine flew to Oslo to attend the congress in the hope of finding support for her husband. She also hoped to meet Indonesian officials, to personally ask for information regarding the Jokowi administration’s plan to carry out more executions after Idul Fitri.
Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo announced earlier this month that 16 drug convicts will be executed after Idul Fitri. Another 30 have been scheduled for execution next year. However, no further details have been released to the public, leaving relatives and lawyers of death row convicts in the dark.
Jokowi insists that the death penalty is to be handed out as punishment for certain drug-related crime. Various civil society organizations are conducting independent investigations in an attempt to further examine the case files of several death row convicts. They hope to use the cases to convince the government to review its capital punishment policy.
Investigation by the Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Imparsial and the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBH Masyarakat) have so far found irregularities in the legal process for seven cases. Alleged irregularities include the absence of an independent interpreter for foreign convicts during the legal process, the lack of competent legal representatives, and corruption.
The issue of legal process vulnerability was the focus of several speakers during the congress in Oslo, including the EU Special Representatives for Human Rights, Stavros Lambrinidis.
“Many cases prove that the death penalty has been imposed on the innocent. This has happened, even in countries with best legal system, such as the US. Imagine what happens in places where the legal system has collapsed. In cases where hatred and political division pushes people to make decisions based on anger and not on the law,” he said.
