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Bali nine executions: Philippine President Benigno Aquino made plea for life of Mary Jane Veloso to Joko Widodo at ASEAN summit
By Lindsay Murdoch
- Rolling coverage: Eight inmates executed in Indonesia
- Mary Jane Veloso spared from execution
- Government withdraws ambassador to Indonesia
- Authorities took 27 minutes to confirm deaths of Chan, Sukumaran
As Australia made an 11th hour plea for clemency for the Bali nine pair, Philippine President Benigno Aquino ramped up lobbying to save the life of a Filipina maid at a summit of South-East Asian leaders in Malaysia.
Mr Aquino met his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo during a three-day summit of leaders of the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations, which began on Sunday.
A huge campaign to spare the life of mother-of-two, Mary Jane Veloso, the only woman among those slated for execution, had been under way in the Philippines for days.
Official photographs from the summit showed Mr Joko and Mr Aquino in talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting on Monday.
Mary Jane Veloso in prison fashion parade earlier this month.Credit: AFP
Veloso, 30, has consistently maintained she was duped by an international syndicate to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 2010.
Faint hope of saving Veloso came on Monday when Mr Joko said he was sympathetic to the plight of Veloso, who is from an impoverished family.
Veloso's public profile was also increased after she took part in a prison fashion show this month.
Hours later, a spokesman for Indonesia's Attorney-General H.M. Prasetyo crushed the hopes, saying her execution would be carried out along with the eight other convicted drug offenders.
Philippine's President Benigno Aquino III, front left, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, front right, chat after the plenary session of the 26th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday, April 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul)Credit: AP
But according to Philippine officials Mr Aquino intensified his personal lobbying to save Veloso after the dramatic surrender to police in the Philippines on Tuesday of a woman who is alleged to have recruited Veloso to travel to Indonesia on the pretext of finding her a job as a maid.
The drugs were found in a suitcase bought for her. The alleged recruiter, Maria Kristina Sergio, had earlier been charged by police with human trafficking over the Veloso case.
REFILE - ADDITIONAL CAPTION INFORMATION Indonesia's President Joko Widodo talks on a mobile phone following a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia April 28, 2015. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had received a letter from her Indonesian counterpart that gave no indication Widodo would change his mind and grant the clemency requested by Australia for two Australian convicted drug traffickers - Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. REUTERS/Darren WhitesideCredit: Reuters
Mr Aquino told Indonesia's foreign minister the Indonesian government could use Veloso as a state witness against the syndicate that set her up to carry the drugs.
"We presented [a proposal] that seems to serve both of our interests, that is to keep her alive to be able to testify, and it serves the ends of justice for both our concerns," he said.
Mr Aquino said Veloso's testimony would provide an opportunity to arrest others involved in the attempted drug importation.
Philippine authorities say they have identified two other suspects.
Veloso was transferred from Nusakambangan and returned to her former prison in Yogyakarta, because all the prisons on the penal island are male only.
Mr Prasetyo said the Philippine government had officially requested that Filipina maid Mary Jane Veloso's execution be delayed at the last moment.
"They said they had evidence that Mary Jane was a victim of human trafficking," Mr Prasetyo said.
Veloso was required to provide testimony and Mr Prasetyo said Indonesia respected the legal process in other countries.
"That was the reason why we delayed the execution," Mr Prasetyo said.
But he said Indonesia would not hand Veloso over to the Philippines and authorities would have to come to Indonesia to obtain her testimony.
Mr Prasetyo said if there was new evidence there was still a possibility of a change to her death sentence.
"We cannot dictate other how and when other countries investigate a case."
Mr Aquino's intervention will boost his popularity that had collapsed in the Philippines in recent months, following a series of scandals.
The Philippine leader will be seen as taking advantage of ASEAN, where leaders avoid confrontation and where one of the key principles of the organisation when it was set up in 1967 was "effective co-operation among" member states.
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed last month his calls to Mr Joko seeking clemency in the case of two Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, had gone unanswered.
- with Jewel Topsfield