Save Young Mother on Death Row in Indonesia
- by: T Haase
- recipient: President Joko Widodo, Indonesia
March 22, 2016: The Philippine Government is still prosecuting Maria Kristina Sergio and others for their roles in human trafficking. Mary Jane Veloso continues to languish in an Indonesian prison under the sentence of death. We would like to continue to press President Widodo to commute the death sentence and release Mary Jane so that she can return home to her sons and parents.
May 6, 2015: Maria Kristina Sergio and her boyfriend have both been arrested for human trafficking and other charges with respect to Mary Jane Veloso.
http://migranteinternational.org/2015/05/06/sergio-etals-arrest-will-boost-calls-to-freemaryjane/
We are now hoping that the prosecution will be successful in proving its case and that this will cause the Indonesian government to extend clemency to Mary Jane Veloso. Mary Jane Veloso continues to languish in prison in Indonesia.
April 28, 2015: Good News! Good News! Mary Jane Veloso was not executed with the other eight prisoners because the Indonesian government decided to delay her execution so that she can be a witness in the prosecution of the woman who recruited her. This does not mean she may not face a firing squad sometime in the future, though, so we need to keep up the pressure on both the Indonesian and Philippine governments. You can contact the President of Indonesia using his email and twitter accounts:
Email: ppid@setkab.go.id
Twitter: @jokowi_do2
Thank you so much for your support of Mary Jane Veloso! I will deliver all of the signatures to President Widodo for the second time so that everyone's signature will count.
----------------------------
Here is Mary Jane's story:
Mary Jane Veloso is a young Filipina mother of two who was promised a job in Malaysia by a family friend. They flew together to Malaysia but upon arriving, the friend said the job had been taken but there was another job in Indonesia. The friend bought Mary Jane new luggage and clothes. When Mary Jane arrived in Indonesia, her borrowed luggage was found to contain heroin. She was arrested and has been in prison for five years. She has been sentenced to death by firing squad.
Mary Jane would not knowingly do anything to put herself at risk with two young sons to support. When she left the Philippines, her sons were aged seven and three months. They are in the care of her parents who live in extreme poverty and were hoping for income from Mary Jane's job.
We respectfully request that President Widodo grant clemency to Mary Jane and spare her life.
Here are the facts of the case:
http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/indonesia/88468-fast-facts-mary-jane-fiesta-veloso
H.E. President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo
Istana Merdeka Jakarta Pusat 10110, Indonesia
Fax: +62 21 386 4816 / +62 21 344 2233
Email: ppid@setkab.go.id
Twitter: @jokowi_do2
Honorable President Widodo: We humbly appeal to you to spare the life of Mary Jane Veloso, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010 and has been on death row for five years. Mary Jane was duped into carrying luggage given to her by a trusted family friend. Mary Jane did not know the luggage had heroin hidden in it. She only wanted to come to Indonesia to work so that she could support her two young sons because her family lives in dire poverty in the Philippines. Mary Jane would never take the chance of doing something illegal knowing that her young sons and family were depending on receiving income from her. According to her family, she has never used drugs herself and has never been involved in drug trafficking. Mary Jane Veloso has been victimized in multiple ways by drug traffickers as well as human traffickers. She made the mistake of trusting the wrong person and should not have to pay for this with her life. Please have mercy on this young mother for the sake of her innocence and her two sons. We beg you on humanitarian grounds to grant clemency in her case and spare her life.
We also respectfully request that as a victim of human trafficking, Mary Jane be released from prison and allowed to return home to the Philippines.
Sincerely and respectfully, The undersigned
http://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/indonesia/91132-mary-jane-veloso-indonesia-execution-notice
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.