Filipina goes home after 15 years on death row in Indonesia

Mary Jane Veloso returned to her native Philippines on Wednesday after 15 years on death row in Indonesia on drug charges.

"I'm so happy I'm able to come home to our country. I appeal to the president that I be given clemency," Veloso told reporters as she arrived in Manila.

Veloso is being sent to a women's prison in the Philippines as part of the deal between the two countries. However, guards allowed her two sons and other family members to greet her and spend time with her inside the prison compound.

What was Veloso charged with?

Veloso, now 39, was arrested in 2015  when 2.6 kilograms (5.73 lb) of heroin were found in her suitcase in the city of Yogyakarta.

Born into extreme poverty, Veloso had begun in 2009 to travel around Asia and the Middle East as a domestic helper to support her family. She has always claimed that she was tricked into transporting the drugs by a woman in Malaysia who had promised her a job was waiting for her in Indonesia.

Nevertheless, she was convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad.

Indonesia's crackdown on drug trafficking has repeatedly drawn outrage, particularly from foreign governments whose citizens have been targeted by it. In recent years, however, they have shown a willingness to negotiate the release of foreign prisoners, including the last of the so-called 'Bali Nine' Australians, who were sent home last week.

Under the agreement between the two countries, Jakarta demanded Veloso's status as a prisoner be respected. At the same time, the Indonesian side said it would not protest if she was granted clemency at home.

A member of the Justice Ministry under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that a pardon was "not off the table."

es/lo (AFP, Reuters)