A Philippina maid awaited her execution when word came: Mary Jane Veloso would live another day.
Earlier that day, the Indonesian government had executed eight co-defendents. Those eight, all Australians, and Ms Veloso made up the Bali Nine, a group convicted of smuggling heroin through the airport at Kuala Lumpur. But Ms. Veloso’s willing participation in the plot is doubted by many. Evidence strongly suggests she was an unknowing pawn of the drug traffickers.
Ms. Veloso’s problems began when her neighbor, Maria Cristina Sergio told her about a job as a maid in Malaysia. Desperate for the work, Ms. Veloso traveled to Malaysia where she was told the job had been filled. But another one was available in Indonesia. Ms. Veloso followed Ms. Sergio to Kuala Lumpur where she stayed a few days waiting for the next instruction. Eventually, she met two men who brought her a suitcase and sent her on to Indonesia.
Ms. Veloso later claimed that she thought the suitcase was unusually heavy. She searched it and found it to be empty. But when she arrived in Indonesia, airport security alarms went off. Authorities went through the lining of her bag and found 2.6 kilograms of heroin worth an estimated $500 thousand. Ms. Veloso was arrested. Ms. Sergio fled.
Ms. Veloso along with eight others was subsequently arrested, convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death. As the circumstances of her case became known, several prominent people came to her defense. Philippine President Benigno Aquino formally requested that Indonesia commute Velosos’s sentence. World champion Philippino boxer Manny Pacquiao made a plea to Indonesian President Joko Widodo to, “grant executive clemency to her.”
Eventually, the execution was halted. President Widodo said that respect for the legal process “was the reason why we delayed the execution,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Philippine officials are hopeful that the stay will allow Veloso to explain how she was an unwitting accomplice in the drug smuggling operation.
Ms. Sergio and Julius Lacanilao her alleged partner recently surrendered to authorities.
Ms. Veloso’s mother Celia told Manila radio, “miracles do come true.”