A Philippines woman who was spared from execution on drug trafficking charges in Indonesia in 2015 is set to be transferred to her homeland after years of negotiations between the two South-East Asian neighbours.
"Mary Jane Veloso is coming home," Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said.
The Philippines leader publicly thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his government for granting a longstanding Philippine government request for Veloso to serve her prison sentence in her own country.
"Arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to death, Mary Jane's case has been a long and difficult journey," Mr Marcos said.
Veloso was scheduled to be executed in April 2015 alongside eight others convicted of drug crimes, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but then-Indonesian President Joko Widodo intervened at the last minute to give her a stay of execution.
Despite objections from the prisoners' home countries, including Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana and Nigeria, Indonesia went on to execute the eight other individuals by firing squad.
Transfer announcement follows years of negotiations
For over a decade, the high-profile case has been a major point of diplomatic tension between South-East Asia's two most populous countries.
Both Indonesia and the Philippines have millions of citizens working abroad — dozens of whom are sitting on death row in foreign jurisdictions for alleged drug trafficking crimes — and like other South-East Asian nations, apply severe penalties for drug offences.
In 2016, Mr Widodo said that his tough-on-drugs Filipino counterpart Rodrigo Duterte had said of Veloso: "Please go ahead if you want to execute her."
Mr Duterte's office later denied this, claiming he had simply said the Philippines would respect the Indonesian legal process.
"Follow your own laws. I will not interfere," Mr Duterte, whose war on drugs led to the deaths of some 12,000 Filipinos, according to Human Rights Watch, was quoted as saying.
Veloso's case has long caused an outcry in the Philippines, where her family and supporters contend she is innocent and was unaware that somebody had concealed the pack of heroin in her suitcase that was found when she entered Indonesia.
A poor housewife, she travelled to Indonesia in 2010 after a friend reportedly told her a job as a domestic worker awaited her.
Her friend also allegedly provided the suitcase where the prohibited drugs were found.
Mr Marcos said Veloso's story resonated with many in the Philippines, as "a mother trapped by the grip of poverty, who made one desperate choice that altered the course of her life".
"While she was held accountable under Indonesian law, she remains a victim of her circumstances," Mr Marcos said.
No 'specific order' for transfer yet
It was not immediately clear when Veloso would be transported to the Philippines, but Mr Marcos said he looked forward to welcoming her home.
"After over a decade of diplomacy and consultations with the Indonesian government, we managed to delay her execution long enough to reach an agreement to finally bring her back to the Philippines," Mr Marcos said.
He said the transfer decision was "a reflection of the depth [of] our nation's partnership with Indonesia — united in a shared commitment to justice and compassion."
But Evi Loliancy, the chief of Yogyakarta's female prison, told AP that there had not yet been an order for Veloso's release.
"She will still be under our supervision at the Yogyakarta Correctional Institution until there is a specific order regarding her transfer from the High Prosecutor's Office," she said.
The Indonesian president's office, however, said Veloso would serve the rest of her sentence in the Philippines, citing "diplomacy and reciprocal partnership in law enforcement" as the reason for the transfer.
The transfer would remove the possibility of Veloso facing execution, as the Philippines has abolished the death penalty.
ABC/wires
