Jakarta, IO – Mary Jane, a Filipino citizen on death row in a drug trafficking case, may get her sentence commuted when the new Penal Code (KUHP) takes effect.
Yogyakarta Corrections Director Gusti Ayu Putu Suwardani said Mary Jane showed good behaviour while incarcerated. In addition, she actively participates in various prison activities like craft making, reported CNNIndonesia, Thursday (4/5).
“Her assessment report was very good, so we’ll just have to wait and see what the government’s policy is for Mary Jane in three years, because she has served her time for almost 13 years now,” said Ayu.
She said that one of the provisions in the new Penal Code is the possibility to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment if certain criteria are met, including good behavior during a 10-year probationary period.
Nevertheless, Ayu noted that it can be made through a presidential decree. She said her agency is still waiting for implementing rules on the law. “We will ask for the minister’s direction,” said Ayu.
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, who hails from Bulacan, was arrested by the police 13 years ago. She was caught smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin at Adisutjipto Airport, Yogyakarta on April 25, 2010.
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Sleman District Court sentenced her to death because she was charged with violating Article 114.2 of Law 35/2009 on Narcotics.
Mary Jane insisted that she was only a mule. She was put in the death row and was scheduled to be executed in April 2015 in Nusakambangan. However, the execution was postponed and her fate is still unclear.
Since March 2021, Mary Jane has been imprisoned in Yogyakarta Women’s Prison in Rejosari, Gunung Kidul. (un)