Mary Jane Veloso — PHOTO COURTESY OF VELOSO FAMILY
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla is set to meet with Indonesian Minister for Human Rights and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra to discuss the possible transfer of Mary Jane Veloso, an overseas Filipino worker on Indonesian death row.
According to Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, the Indonesian government formally invited him and Remulla to meet with Yusril on Friday, Dec. 6.
“There is a letter from Indonesia asking for a face-to-face audience between [Secretary Remulla] and the [Indonesian] Minister for Human Rights and Corrections,” Vasquez told reporters in a chance interview.
“The Secretary and I may go there this Friday, and I think it will be about the details of the possible transfer,” he added.
Vasquez said the DOJ aims to tackle Indonesia’s conditions for allowing Veloso’s transfer to the Philippines.
He said this is necessary since there is no treaty between the Philippines and Indonesia involving the transfer of sentenced persons.
“So that’s what we’re talking about, because some people say that executive clemency is needed when it comes to this. Again, that’s a policy issue to talk about. Can it be done? Can we do it? If there are no conditions, why not?” he explained.
“But if there is a condition, you are obligated to follow whatever terms or conditions there in the agreement because even if there is no treaty, that’s still an agreement between Indonesia and the Philippines that we must honor as a country because they gave that (allows Veloso’s transfer) because of the depth of the relationship between the Philippines and Indonesia,” he added.
When asked about the actual date of Veloso’s return, Vasquez said that while the DOJ hoped that it would be before Christmas, it would still depend on the Philippine Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs’ discussions with the Indonesian government.
Veloso was arrested in 2010 at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
She was then sentenced to death, but was spared in 2015 after the Aquino administration asked then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo to allow her to testify against members of a human and drug-smuggling syndicate in Manila.
READ: PH to honor Indonesia’s conditions in Mary Jane Veloso’s return