(FILE PHOTO) Home is where heart is After 14 years of detention in a foreign land, Mary Jane Veloso, short of a miracle, is returning home after the Indonesian government agreed to a Philippines’ request to transfer her to a local prison.
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The Indonesian government has asked for a face-to-face meeting with the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Friday ahead of the impending transfer of Filipino death row convict Mary Jane Veloso to the Philippines.
This was revealed by Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez who said the meeting was requested by the Indonesian government in a letter to the DoJ.
Vasquez said the meeting would be between the Indonesian Minister for Human Rights and Corrections and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
“The secretary and I may go (to Indonesia) this Friday and I think it will be about the details of the possible transfer… so I’m going with the secretary to finish this urgent matter,” Vasquez added.
He said he might ask to see Veloso in her detention in Indonesia.
Veloso was sentenced to death after she was arrested on her arrival in Indonesia with 2.5 kilograms of heroin in her luggage.
Veloso was scheduled to be executed by firing squad in April 2015 but Indonesian President Joko Widodo granted a reprieve to allow Philippine authorities to pursue criminal charges against her illegal recruiters.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier announced that an agreement had been reached between the Philippines and Indonesia for the transfer of Veloso to Philippine jurisdiction.
Veloso’s sister repatriated
Meanwhile, Maritess Veloso, a sister of Mary Jane and an overseas Filipino worker who was reportedly sexually abused by her employer in Saudi Arabia, has been repatriated to the Philippines.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced on Tuesday, 3 December, that Maritess arrived at NAIA Terminal 1 on Friday, 29 November.
DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac confirmed that despite Maritess’s return, efforts to secure justice for her continue.
“We are working with the Migrant Workers Office in Al Khobar where her claims are still being pursued,” he said.
