BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER
A Filipino woman sentenced to death in Indonesia has been given a reprieve, with her case forwarded to that country’s Supreme Court for final ruling.
Charles Jose, Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman, on Thursday said the District Court of Yogyakarta on March 4 (Wednesday) decided to endorse completion of a judicial review to the Supreme Court in Jakarta.
The District Court heard the judicial review of the case on March 3 and 4.
Jose said they are waiting for the schedule of the Supreme Court hearing.
Until then, the Filipino woman, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, will not be transferred to Nusakambangan, a prison island in Central Java where death row prisoners are placed before their execution.
The legal counsel for the woman questioned the qualifications of the translator chosen for hearings at the trial court.
Jose said the translator was a student.
If the translator was not qualified, it may have an impact on the case, he added.
According to Jose, the Philippine government is hopeful now that the case has been endorsed to the Supreme Court.
“That will mean there will be no execution until the judicial review has been completed and as long as the case is being heard,” he said. “This is the final battleground.”
The Filipino woman, 30, a single mother and an informal worker, entered Yogyakarta as a tourist via Malaysia in 2010, and was caught bringing in 2.6 kilos of heroin, which she said a friend had asked her to bring.