Mary Jane Remains a Convict: Attorney General

"I think her status is still that of a convict. We will see what it will be like later," he informed newsmen here on Wednesday while visiting the execution location in Panaluan Tunggal shooting range on the island of Nusakambangan, Cilacap, Central Java, along with National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti.

He noted that Mary Jane had applied for a judicial review twice, but if the new case in her home country, the Philippines, could reveal new evidence, she would be able to apply for a judicial review based on the Constitutional Court's ruling stating that the application for a judicial review could be carried out more than once.

"Although she would indeed be proven as a victim of human trafficking, the fact remains that she has brought heroin into Indonesia. The fact will not abolish her responsibility for the crime that Mary has committed," he emphasized.

Prasetyo remarked that Mary Jane's execution had been postponed following a request from the Philippine government as she would be needed during the investigation into the human trafficking case.

"Mary Jane has been asked to give a testimony and clarification. This is the reason why we decided to postpone her execution to respect the legal process being carried out by the Philippines. I reiterated that her execution was only postponed and not cancelled because the fact remains that Mary Jane had been caught red-handed in Yogyakarta, which comes under Indonesia's legal jurisdiction, bringing in heroin into Indonesia," he said.

The attorney general stated that the Attorney General's Office will wait for the results of the investigation process into the human trafficking case by the Philippine government.

He noted that if the Philippine government needs Mary Jane's testimony, they must come to Indonesia.

"So, till the time she is needed by the Philippine government to unveil the human trafficking case, Mary Jane will remain in Indonesia," he pointed out.

He explained that Mary Jane was notified about the postponement while she was in an isolation room at the Besi prison on the Nusakambangan Island, and so, she was not brought to the shooting range.

"Right now, Mary Jane has been moved to Wirogunan penitentiary in Yogyakarta (Central Java)," he affirmed.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti remarked that the Indonesian police are ready to provide assistance in the investigation with regard to the information that Mary Jane was a mere victim of human trafficking.

"Polri (Indonesian police) are ready to conduct investigation to probe if a human trafficking crime has been committed and whether Mary Jane was indeed the victim of it," he noted.

Mary Jane Fiesty Veloso is one of the drug convicts on death row whose plea for clemency has been turned down by President Joko Widodo.

She was reported to be a mere victim of human trafficking committed by Kristina who recruited her while she was looking for a job as a maid in Malaysia with seven thousand pesos.

On arrival in Malaysia, Mary Jane was told to wait in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, before she was assigned work and was given a bag to carry her clothing.

When she arrived at Yogyakarta's Adisutjipto Airport, Mary Jane was caught by customs officers who found 2.6 kilograms of heroin worth Rp5.5 billion inside her leather bag.

Although the illegal drug did not belong to her, Mary Jane was tried and sentenced to death in 2010.

Mary Jane later applied for a judicial review after her plea for clemency was rejected by the president. However, in a judicial review court in March 2015, her plea was rejected.

Before her execution, Mary Jane was moved to Nusakambangan on April 24, 2015, but on the same day, her lawyer applied for a second judicial review to the court in Sleman, which was later also turned down.

All drug convicts on death row except Mary Jane were executed simultaneously on Wednesday at 0:25 a.m. local time, on the island of Nusakambangang, off southern Central Java.

The executed drug convicts were Andrew Chan, Myuran Sukumaran (Australia), Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigeria), Zainal Abidin (Indonesia), Rodrigo Gularte (Brazil), Silvester Obiekwe Nwaolise alias Mustofa (Nigeria), Martin Anderson alias Belo (Ghana), and Okwudili Oyatanze (Nigeria).

This was the second batch of executions following the one carried out on January 18 involving five drug convicts: Dutch Ang Kim Soei (62), Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Mareira (53), Malawian Daniel Enemua (38), Indonesian woman Rani Andriani alias Melisa Aprilia (38), and Tran Thi Bich Hanh (Vietnam).