JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia will transfer Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine woman sentenced to death in 2010 for drug trafficking, to her home country in the early hours of Wednesday, a senior Indonesian official said.
Jakarta agreed last month to repatriate Veloso, a former domestic helper and mother of two, who was arrested in Yogyakarta 14 years ago after being found with 2.6 kg (5.73 lb) of heroin concealed in a suitcase.
Veloso’s case caused a domestic outcry in the Philippines. She received a last-minute reprieve from execution in 2015 after the late former President Benigno Aquino appealed to the Indonesian government, arguing she could be a vital witness in prosecuting drug syndicates.
World boxing icon Manny Pacquiao had also campaigned for her to be spared the death penalty.
Veloso will be flown from a female prison in the capital of Jakarta, where she had been moved from a Yogyakarta jail, to the Philippines, deputy minister of Indonesia’s ministry for law and human rights affairs I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram told a press conference on Monday.
Veloso will serve the remainder of her sentence in the Philippines.
The Philippines’ presidential office said Veloso’s “imminent return” was the “fruit of more than a decade of persistent discussions, consultations and diplomacy”.
“Duty-bound as we are to honour the conditions for her transfer…, we are truly elated to welcome Mary Jane back to her homeland,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement.
Indonesia repatriated five remaining members of the “Bali Nine” Australian drug ring at the weekend to serve their sentences in their home country, at the request of Canberra.
Jakarta did not announce the timing of the Bali Nine transfer, but Surya denied any difference in treatment, saying Australia had requested the timing not to be publicly disclosed.
Indonesian officials have previously said they were also considering France’s request for the repatriation of death row prisoner Serge Atlaoui, who was convicted of drug offences.
Britain, Saudi Arabia and Iran plan to make similar prisoner transfer requests, Indonesian government official Ahmad Kaffah said.
“It must be underlined that the transfers of prisoners are done with the principle of reciprocity, so that in time, we expect the same treatment from those countries.”
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Additional reporting by Mikhail Flores in Manila; Editing by Gayatri Suroyo, Martin Petty and Nicholas Yong)
