The mother considers herself a victim in this affair.
Mary Jane Fiesta Velosoa 40-year-old Filipina was released this Wednesday, December 18 after having avoided the death penalty. The woman was arrested in 2010 in Indonesia, she was in possession of 2.6kg of heroin in his suitcase. In a country where anti-drug laws are one of the strictest in the world, the mother was sentenced to the death penalty.
Throughout the past 15 years, the single mother has continued to proclaim her innocence. In 2009, she decided to flee her country, the Philippines, to find work elsewhere. It was then that Maria Kristina Sergio, a fake recruiter, offered her a job as a domestic worker in Indonesia. This woman then allegedly provided him with the suitcase in which the drugs were found.
In 2015, while the public authorities in his native country were outraged that a single mother was sent to prison and sentenced to death even though she was innocent and a victim of this drug trafficking, the Indonesian authorities finally managed to find Maria Kristina Sergio a few days before her execution.
Pardoned or imprisoned for life?
After years of bitter struggle, she benefited from an agreement between Indonesia and the Philippines, reversing her execution and returning her to her homeland.
Once she arrived in Philippine territory, she was immediately taken to a women’s prison, according to AFP journalists who were present on site.
Now her future is in the hands of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the current president who can decide to pardon her, otherwise she will spend the rest of her days in prison.
“I hope our president will pardon me so I can return to my family. I was imprisoned in Indonesia for 15 years for something I didn’t do,” she said when he arrived to journalists.
When he arrived, many members of his family were waiting for him as well as his supporters. Our CNN colleagues report that it was written on a banner: “Welcome home, Mary Jane”.
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso is, however, prohibited from returning to Indonesian territory.
