DFA: Veloso now a witness, complainant vs alleged recruiter

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso. AFP FILE PHOTO

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that Mary Jane Veloso has become a state witness and a complainant against her alleged recruiter.

“The stay was granted based on our request for Mary Jane (Veloso) to be able to testify in connection with the cases filed against the recruiter, Maria Kristina Sergio,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Veloso was set to be executed early Wednesday morning but was spared by a last-minute reprieve from the Indonesian government.

READ: Veloso execution stopped

The alleged recruiter turned herself in to the authorities on Tuesday, claiming that she has been receiving death threats.

Sergio’s move was hailed by the DFA as a significant development factored in by Indonesia in granting Veloso’s reprieve.

“I think the surrender of Sergio played a big part (in Veloso’s reprieve.) Initially, we have notified the Indonesian government that we have filed cases (against Sergio). But the surrender of the recruiter made our case even stronger,” Jose said.

He also added that Veloso will become a complainant in the cases filed against Sergio.

Meanwhile, Jose said that on Wednesday morning, Veloso returned to her original cell in Wirogunan Prison in Yogyakarta and out of the Nusakambangan maximum security prison, also known as the “execution island.”

The DFA will also set arrangements for her family to visit her in prison.

The idea of turning Veloso into a witness against her recruiter was suggested by President Benigno Aquino III to Indonesia foreign minister Retno Marsudi while he was in Malaysia for the 26th Asean Summit on Tuesday.

Aquino told Marsudi that it was only recently that the Filipina former domestic helper divulged information about the drug syndicate which duped her, thus the last-minute proposition.

READ: Aquino in last ditch effort to save Mary Jane Veloso

President Joko Widodo then set a meeting with a migrant organization and his Cabinet Tuesday evening to discuss Veloso’s case.

The Filipina was spared but eight other drug convicts from Brazil, Australia, Indonesia and Nigeria were executed, defying international pressure.

Veloso was caught at the Yogyakarta Airport with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in 2010. She was convicted of drug trafficking during the same year. IDL

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