Indonesian lawyer hopeful of Veloso death sentence revocation

THE Indonesian lawyer of Mary Jane Veloso remains optimistic that the death penalty imposed on the Filipina will be revoked.

Attorney Rudyantho met with members of the Veloso Special Task Force on Tuesday to gather more information on the case.

“That [cancellation of death penalty] is still possible,” he said after his meeting with the task force members.

Rudyantho said he came to the Philippines to find out the real story behind Veloso’s misfortune.

“We want to find out the real story on what happened in KL (Kuala Lumpur) when [Ma. Cristina] Sergio recruited her to KL and sent her to Indonesia,” he said.

Veloso was supposed to be put to death by firing squad midnight of April 29 but was given last-minute stay of execution by the Indonesian government.

Her recruiter Sergio and the latter’s live-in partner Julius Lacanilao went to the police on April 28 to seek protection.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) promptly filed human trafficking, illegal recruitment and estafa cases against Sergio and Lacanilao based on Veloso’s affidavit.

Then a special task force for Veloso’s case was created.

Rudyantho said he is hopeful that he would be able to gather all the information they need to help Mary Jane before leaving for Indonesia on Thursday.

While the Indonesian government has not set a time frame for the Philippine government to wrap up its investigation, Rudyantho said they hope that the probe will be completed as soon as possible.

From NBI and DOJ, Rudyantho will proceed to the Philippine National Police to meet with police investigators. AC