Filipino overseas worker Mary Jane Veloso was granted a temporary reprieve by the Indonesian government minutes before she was scheduled to be executed by firing squad. Veloso’s mother Celia hailed the reprieve as a “miracle.”
However, the execution of Veloso’s eight fellow death convicts – Australians, Nigerians, a Brazilian, and an Indonesian – was carried out as scheduled early this morning on Nusakambangan Island.
This was confirmed by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose in a brief press briefing early this morning.
It was not immediately known why the Indonesian government had a sudden change of heart as Jose did not give further details.
Hours before the reprieve, all signs lead to Veloso’s execution. Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo had said that Veloso’s execution will not be delayed despite last-minute appeals by President Aquino. An ambulance bearing the name of Veloso and carrying a coffin was also sent to the so-called “Execution Island.”
Jakarta Post, in a breaking news posted at 12:25 a.m. (Indonesia time) or 1:25a.m (Philippine time), said the Indonesian government executed eight death row prisoners early on Wednesday on Nusakambangan prison island near Cilacap in Central Java.
Quoting an Attorney General’s Office (AGO) official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Jakarta Post said the eight were Indonesian Zainal Abidin, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Nigerians Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Raheem Agbaje Salami and Okwudili Oyatanze, Ghanaian Martin Anderson.
Philippine national Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso “was spared after a woman who allegedly recruited her to act as a drug courier turned herself in on Tuesday.”
AGO spokesman Tony Spontana said the government had agreed to the final requests fielded by two Australian death-row convicts for their bodies to be flown to Australia for burial.
An Indonesian police officer said after the executions, prayers were said for each person according to their respective religion. “The executions went well, without any disruptions,” he said.
Jakarta Post said the AGO stated that the executions had been carried out after it had heard all eight convicts’ final requests.
Manila Bulletin
