YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Filipino death row inmate Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso knelt to pray when officers came to take her to an execution site in May 2015, just a few feet away from her isolation cell on an Indonesian prison island, where a 13-member firing squad was waiting.
While she prayed, the Philippines government was wrapping up a lengthy legal battle over her fate. Veloso’s life was ultimately spared — temporarily — by Indonesia’s Attorney General's Office, which issued a stay of execution shortly before Veloso was to be executed with eight other death row inmates.
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Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, shakes hands with Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez during the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, listens as Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez speaks to the media during a press conference after the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso poses for a photo alongside a Christmas tree during a holiday event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso speaks during a Christmas event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso poses for a photo with a Mother Mary statue during a Christmas event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, shakes hands with Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez during the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, listens as Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez speaks to the media during a press conference after the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
“Lord, many people there believe that I am guilty, but many people out there believe that I am innocent. Lord, You are the One who knows everything, You knew that I am innocent, so I beg You, please prove that by saving me,” Veloso recalled praying in a tearful interview with The Associated Press at a female prison in Yogyakarta on Tuesday.
The reprieve aimed to provide an opportunity for Veloso's testimony to expose how a criminal syndicate duped her into being an unwitting accomplice and courier in drug trafficking.
Shock washed over Veloso as a group of officials from the attorney general's office informed her of the stay just as she was being led out to the execution site on Nusakambangan prison island. In tears, she remembered a cocoon she saw the previous night hanging from a tree branch near her cell.
“In the Philippines we believe that if there is a cocoon, there will be a new life,” Veloso said. “That means I will not be executed because God will give me a new life.”
Veloso, now 39, was arrested in 2010 at the airport in the Indonesian ancient city of Yogyakarta, where officials discovered about 2.6 kilograms (5.7 pounds) of heroin hidden in her luggage. The single mother of two sons was convicted and sentenced to death.
Veloso has maintained her innocence throughout her 14 years of incarceration. She has spent her time in prison designing Indonesian batik clothing, painting, tailoring and learning interior design and other skills.
Veloso was granted a stay of execution because her alleged boss was arrested in the Philippines, and the authorities there requested Indonesian assistance in pursuing a case against her. The woman, who allegedly recruited Veloso to work in Kuala Lumpur, Maria Kristina Sergio, surrendered to police in the Philippines just two days ahead of her scheduled execution.
The dramatic turn of events began last month, when in an unusual last-ditch effort to delay Veloso’s death, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that a deal had been reached for Indonesia to send Veloso home after a decade of pleading from Manila.
“Mary Jane Veloso is coming home,” Marcos said in a statement. “Arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to death, Mary Jane’s case has been a long and difficult journey.”
A “practical arrangement” between Indonesia and the Philippines was signed on Dec. 6, to send Veloso home, which is expected before Christmas.
Although there is no treaty between the countries, Indonesia and the Philippines are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the transfer of convicts in the ASEAN region is in accordance with the bloc’s Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, said Raul Vasquez, the undersecretary at the Department of Justice of the Philippines, after the signing ceremony.
Indonesia’s Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for law, human rights, immigration and corrections, lauded the transfer agreement as a “historic milestone” between Indonesia and the Philippines, and part of the new administration of President Prabowo Subianto’s “good neighbor” policy.
Once repatriated, Mahendra said, if the Philippines want to pardon Veloso or grant clemency, “that is entirely their authority in which we must also respect,” the minister added. The Philippines, Asia’s largest Roman Catholic nation, has abolished the death penalty.
Veloso described the decision as being “like a miracle when I have lost all hope."
“For almost 15 years I was separated from my children and parents, and I could not see my children grow up,” she said, her eyes filled with tears. “I wish to be given an opportunity to take care of my children and to be close to my parents.”
Born in Cabanatuan, a city in Nueva Ecija province, Veloso was the youngest of five siblings of a family who lived in extreme poverty. Her father worked as a seasonal agricultural worker on a sugar cane plantation and her mother collected discarded bottles and plastic to sell to junk shops. Veloso dropped out of school in her first year of high school and married her husband when she was just 16 years old.
The couple later separated and she became a single mother to two young sons, forcing her to emigrate to Dubai in 2009 to work as maid. She returned to the Philippines before the end of her two-year contract after an attempted rape by her employer. A year later, Veloso was recruited by Sergio to be employed as a domestic servant in Malaysia but later was shifted to Indonesia.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population.
Indonesia's last executions were carried out in July 2016, when an Indonesian and three foreigners were shot by firing squad.
There are about 530 people on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed as of last month. The Indonesian government recently agreed in principle to return five Australian nationals and a French national to their home countries.
“I was not a good Catholic before, and prison has changed my life into a skilled person who has become closer to God,” Veloso said. “I am ready to build a new life, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.”
Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso poses for a photo alongside a Christmas tree during a holiday event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso speaks during a Christmas event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Filipino death-row drug convict Mary Jane Veloso poses for a photo with a Mother Mary statue during a Christmas event at the Yogyakarta Women's Prison in Gunung Kidul, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, shakes hands with Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez during the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra, left, listens as Philippine's Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez speaks to the media during a press conference after the signing ceremony of a deal to send home Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino death-row drug convict, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
Top diplomats from the United States, the Arab League and Turkey met in Jordan on Saturday to discuss how to assist Syria ’s transition after the fall of Bashar Assad's government a week ago. No Syrian representatives attended.
The collapse of the Assad family’s more than half-century of rule has sparked new fears of instability in a region already shaken by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah despite a tenuous ceasefire.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian insurgent group that led the overthrow of Assad’s government, but the group continues to be designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
The insurgent leader in an interview with Syrian TV didn't mention contact with the U.S., but he warned Israel about the hundreds of airstrikes it has carried out in Syria in the past week.
The U.S. is also making a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis.
Here's the latest:
BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants says the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria has cut a main supply line for the group but it can find other ways to bring in weapons.
Hezbollah was a main backer of Assad and sent thousands of fighters to Syria over the past decade. And for decades, Hezbollah relied on Syria as a channel for weapons from the militant group's main backer, Iran.
In his first public comments in the week since Assad’s fall, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem in a televised speech Saturday said Hezbollah has lost the military supply line through Syria but the new authority there might reinstate the route. Otherwise, he said, “we might find other ways.”
Kassem also said Hezbollah hopes the new authority in Syria will consider Israel an enemy.
DAMASCUS, Syria — The head of the Syrian insurgent group that led the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government says they are not about to enter a conflict with Israel. But Ahmad al-Sharaa in his first public comments on Israel in the week since Assad's fall said “the pretexts that Israel uses have ended" for its airstrikes inside Syria in recent days.
Al-Sharaa said “the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement” in his interview with Syrian TV on Saturday. About 400 Israeli airstrikes in the past days have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets.
Al-Sharaa leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The excerpts released from his interview did not address contact with the United States, which on Saturday said had been in direct communication with HTS, which it designated a foreign terrorist organization years ago.
The HTS leader did say the new authorities in Damascus are in contact with Western embassies, and that authorities have a plan to start reconstruction and development in Syria. He did not give details.
He added that the authorities have given Russia — a key backer of Assad — an opportunity to reconsider relations with the Syrian people, and that authorities are not hostile to the people of Iran, another Assad backer.
AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says American officials have been in direct contact with the Syrian rebel group that led the overthrow of President Bashar Assad’s government a week ago, but the group continues to be designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and others.
Blinken is the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which ousted Assad. Speaking at a news conference in Jordan, Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say at least 10 people were killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that apparently targeted a municipal meeting in central Gaza.
The officials said the strike hit the municipality complex for Deir al-Balah city as officials from central and southern Gaza met to coordinate how to receive vehicles provided by the United Arab Emirates.
The complex includes a building used by the Hamas-run interior ministry and is surrounded by a public market, which was crowded when the strike occurred.
Among the dead were a mother and her 5-year-old daughter, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital and an AP journalist at the morgue. The dead also include Diab al-Garu, head of the Deir al-Balah municipality, the hospital said.
ISTANBUL — Turkey reopened its embassy in Syria on Saturday, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Bashar Assad’s rule last weekend. The Syrian insurgents who overthrew Assad had received vital help from Turkey.
The Turkish flag was raised above the compound in Damascus for the first time since diplomatic ties were cut in 2012. The embassy suspended operations 12 years ago due to insecurity during the Syrian civil war.
Several countries maintained diplomatic ties with Assad's government during the 13-year conflict, while others reopened their diplomatic missions in recent years as they sought to normalize relations.
AQABA, Jordan — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says broad consensus exists among regional partners that Syria’s new government must be inclusive, must respect women and minority rights, reject terrorism and secure and destroy suspected Assad-era chemical weapons stockpiles.
Blinken is wrapping up a three-country regional tour in Aqaba after visiting Iraq, Turkey and Jordan once already this week.
Earlier Saturday in a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson, Blinken said he expected to talk about the challenges ahead for Syria and “our determination to work together to support a Syrian-led transition where the United Nations plays a critical role, particularly when it comes to the provision of assistance, to the protection of minorities.”
Pederson agreed, saying: “What is so critical in Syria is that we see a credible and inclusive political process that brings together all communities in Syria. And the second point is that we need to make sure that state institutions do not collapse, and that we get in humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible. And if we can achieve that, perhaps there is a new opportunity for the Syrian people.”
In announcing Saturday’s meetings, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the ministers would “discuss ways to support a comprehensive political process led by Syrians to achieve a transitional process,” which “ensures the reconstruction of Syrian state institutions, and preserves Syria’s unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security, stability, and the rights of all its citizens.”
A Syrian fighter from rebel group, observes a prison room at the security detention center called Palestine Branch in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken leaves after delivering a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
A girl plays atop a tank on display near the Syrian side of the Quneitra crossing, between Israel and Syria, as seen from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Syrian naval vessels are seen destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last week in the port of Latakia, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers a statement to the press after the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Syrian fighter from rebel group, uses his knife to tear a poster at the entrance to the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which shows the ouster Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A torn posters shows the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad, that were set at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, left, and Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, speaks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Arab Contact Group on Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
A Syrian fighter from rebel group, fires towards a poster at the entrance of the notorious security detention centre called Palestine Branch, which pictures the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his son the ouster Syrian president Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken browses a phone while riding in a helicopter on the way back from the US Embassy headquarters to Baghdad airport ahead of his departure on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken greets officials after disembarking a US military aircraft in Jordan's Red Sea resort of Aqaba, on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)
The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen speaks during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen speaks during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, right, in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during his meeting with the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Syria in Jordan's southern Red Sea coastal city of Aqaba, Saturday Dec. 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via AP)
