PH court ruling can help Veloso, Indonesia says

Febriana Firdaus, Camelia Pasandaran

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PH court ruling can help Veloso, Indonesia says

EPA

Indonesian Attorney General's Office spokesman Tony Spontana says officials will not let Mary Jane Veloso leave Indonesia, at least for now

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian Attorney General HM Prasetyo on Wednesday, July 29, said a court ruling in the Philippines can later be used as new evidence for Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso to apply for clemency. 

“If the Philippine court later decides that she’s a victim of trafficking, it’s still difficult (for her) to be free from her sentence here,” Prasetyo said, as quoted by Indonesian media on Wednesday.

“But she might use the ruling as novum (new evidence) to apply again for clemency or judicial review,” he said.

Mary Jane’s lawyer, Agus Salim, told Rappler that he was also waiting for the legal process in Philippines. 

“We will apply for clemency or judicial review again, but that will depend on the ruling in Philippines,” Agus said. 

A delegation from Philippines Department of Justice on Wednesday met with officials of the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office to discuss the case against Veloso’s alleged recruiters in the Philippines.  

No leaving Indonesia

The meeting in Jakarta comes 3 months after Indonesia was supposed to execute Veloso on April 28 for drug smuggling.

Veloso’s execution was postponed because of a last-minute appeal from Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. (READ: Aquino ‘broke protocol’ to save Mary Jane Veloso)

The Philippine government is now trying to pin down Veloso’s alleged recruiters for illegal recruitment, estafa, and human trafficking to prove that Veloso was a victim. (READ: DOJ approves charges vs Mary Jane Veloso’s recruiters) 

In Indonesia, however, Philippine Justice Assistant Secretary Neil Simon Silva refused to answer journalists’ questions about the meeting. Silva requested them to interview Indonesia’s AGO officials instead.

AGO spokesman Tony Spontana said that the AGO will not let Veloso leave Indonesia, at least for now. 

“We’ll never allow Mary Jane to be taken to the Philippines. We offer their investigators to question her here, conduct a video press conference, or let us question her,” Spontana said. – Rappler.com

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