Malaysian state spares Filipina on death row

The death penalty imposed on a Filipina in Malaysia has been commuted to life imprisonment, the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said Tuesday.

The embassy said Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, chairman of the State of Selangor Pardons Board, commuted the sentence meted on Jacqueline Quiamno on June 15, after the Philippine Embassy and her family requested for a clemency.

READ: More Filipinos on death row in Malaysia, Saudi, China

“The Embassy conveys its heartfelt appreciation to the Sultan of Selangor and the Selangor Pardons Board for this sterling manifestation of benevolence and compassion,” the Embassy said in a statement.

Quiamno was arrested in June 2005 for smuggling five kilograms of cocaine at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which was found in her luggage.

The Embassy said the Filipina did it on the bidding of an African drug syndicate based in Hong Kong.

In November 2010, the Shah Alam High Court found her guilty of drug trafficking and the verdict was affirmed by the Federal Court in July 2013.

The Embassy said the last execution of a Filipino in Malaysia was 22 years ago, in June 1993, when a Filipino was executed for the crime of murder in Sabah.

On April 29, Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, a convicted drug mule in Indonesia’s death row, was given a last-minute reprieve. IDL

READ: Veloso execution stopped