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The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent its official contingent to Jakarta, Indonesia on Monday as part of government’s efforts and “continuous commitment to provide assistance” to Filipina Mary Jane Veloso, a death row convict in that country.
The DOJ team is led by Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III, Assistant Secretary Neil Simon Silva, State Counsel Mildred Alvor, State Counsel Nancy Lozano, and Assistant State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas and Assistant State Prosecutor Mark Roland Estepa from the National Prosecution Service (NPS).
The DOJ also sent representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), an attached agency of the department, namely Supervising Agent Basset Sarip and Special Investigator Danilo Garay.
The DOJ team are joined by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“Officials of the [DFA] and [DOJ] will be meeting with Indonesian officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, and the Attorney General’s Office on July 29 to discuss development in the cases filed in the Philippines against the recruiters of [Veloso]. They will also discuss the assistance available under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Among Like-Minded ASEAN Member Countries (ASEAN MLAT),” the DFA said in a statement issued on Monday.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier said a formal request under the ASEAN MLAT was made with Indonesia in connection with Veloso’s case.
“We have already made a formal mutual legal assistance request, which includes possible access to Mary Jane for purposes of getting supplemental sworn statement than can strengthen these cases [against Veloso’s recruiters]. Although may affidavit na kinuha [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] noon, kailangan pa ng mas detailed na sworn statement ni Mary Jane,” De Lima said.
A task force was created by the DOJ with the mandate to exhaust all possible legal remedies for Veloso, who has been granted a reprieve by the Indonesian government on the heels of the “voluntary surrender” of her alleged illegal recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao last April 28.
De Lima directed the task force to strengthen the evidence against Sergio and Lacanilao “to meet the threshold of proof beyond reasonable doubt for purposes of trial.” Sergio and Lacanilao have been slapped with separate cases for qualified trafficking, illegal recruitment, and estafa before the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court on the basis of the complaints of Veloso and several other alleged victims.
“That’s the purpose of our task force na pinapalakas natin through the mutual legal assistance request natin to both Indonesia and Malaysia,” De Lima said.
Veloso was arrested in 2010 by Indonesian authorities for possession of 2.6 kilos of heroin found inside her luggage upon her arrival from Malaysia; she claims she was unaware of the presence of the illegal drugs in her luggage and maintains that she was duped by Sergio, Lacanilao, and a certain “Ike,” a male of African descent into being a drug courier.
The District Court of Justice of Sleman in Yogjakarta sentenced her to death on October 11, 2010. The death sentence was upheld on February 10, 2011 by the Court of Appeals of Yogjakarta.
The Supreme Court of Indonesia upheld Veloso’s death sentence on May 31, 2011.
Text: Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News
Photo: News clip
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
