A mother of two who was spared execution 30 minutes after being convicted of drug trafficking to Indonesia is on her way home to the Philippines under the same relocation agreement as the Bali Nine.
Filipino maid Mary Jane Veloso, 40, was to be executed by firing squad along with Australian drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran on April 30, 2015.
But Veloso escaped with minutes to spare thanks to the efforts of a Melbourne lawyer, Felicity Gerry, who provided her team with crucial legal advice that convinced Indonesian authorities she may have been tricked into committing the crime.
Ms. Gerry became involved in Veloso’s case on April 7, 2015, purely by chance, after she was emailed a petition intended to save her from death row.
“I thought I wasn’t going to sign this (petition), I’m going to help,” Ms Gerry told Daily Mail Australia.
“I think it’s part of our duty as lawyers that if you have any knowledge that can help a case, you should share it.”
And coincidentally he had in front of him the documents (human trafficking agreements signed by Indonesia and the Philippines) that were key to saving Veloso’s life.
Veloso was a single mother and an impoverished maid who had been tricked into accepting a job as a maid abroad.
Mary Jane Veloso greets the media before her transfer to Jakarta after Indonesia and the Philippines signed agreements to repatriate her after she was imprisoned in 2010.
Veloso described his return home as “like a miracle when I have lost all hope.”
Veloso is seen in Wirogunan prison in Indonesia in 2015. She was tricked into carrying a suitcase full of drugs.
Melbourne lawyer Felicity Gerry intervened at the last minute.
The Veloso family, including their two young children.
As payment to the recruitment agency, he handed over cash, his moped and his mobile phone to the agency and flew to Malaysia to start working.
However, once he landed in Kuala Lumpur, his recruiter, Maria Kristina Sergio, told Veloso that the position had fallen through, but that a new position had been found in Indonesia.
They took Veloso to buy new clothes and gave him a suitcase that contained 2.6 kg of heroin hidden inside. Sergio also allegedly provided the suitcase where the drugs were found.
In April 2010, customs authorities found drugs with a street value of nearly $1 million at Yogyakarta airport in Indonesia and arrested Veloso.
After her trial, Veloso was sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
While Gerry and a team of Veloso supporters worked frantically to convince Indonesia not to kill her, Veloso was transferred to Nusakambangan, known as the “Island of Death.”
Ms. Gerry’s advice led Filipino recruiters, including Sergio, to take advantage of Veloso being prosecuted and Philippine authorities to launch the emergency offer that saved his life.
The race against time, which saw then Philippine President Beningo Aquino hold an emergency meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, bore fruit.
With minutes to spare, she was taken back to her cell while eight other convicted drug traffickers, including Australians Chan and Sukumaran, were murdered. But she was still on death row.
“She was not executed, but she was kept in prison and was at risk of being executed,” Mrs. Gerry recalled.
“For a long time we didn’t know if he would ever be safe.”
Mary Jane Veloso receives a medical checkup by Indonesian officials at the Jakarta Women’s Center; Prison before transfer back to the Philippines
The armored vehicle was used to transport Veloso to his penalized execution
Australians Andrew Chan (right) and Myuran Sukumaran were killed by firing squad.
Veloso was transferred on Sunday to a women’s prison in Jakarta from where she will be flown back to the Philippines early Wednesday, said I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram, an official at the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Veloso, now 40, described his return home as “like a miracle when I lost all hope.”
“For almost 15 years I was separated from my children and my parents, and I couldn’t see them grow up,” she said. ‘
“I want to have the opportunity to take care of my children and be close to my parents.”
Ms Gerry told Daily Mail Australia she was “elated” at Veloso’s release.
“I want him to be with his family and his children,” Mrs Gerry said.
“I was in the Philippines and met his parents and I’m so happy this finally happened.”
Veloso’s mother, Celia, 65, told reporters: “We can finally be together this Christmas.”
“This might be the happiest Christmas we’ve ever had as a family.”