A woman who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking has walked free from jail after receiving a presidential pardon.
Mary Jane Veloso smiled as she left her prison cell in the Philippines on Friday, local time, holding the document signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr granting her “absolute pardon”.
Veloso was arrested and sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2010 after carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
She was scheduled to be executed in April 2015 alongside eight others convicted of drug crimes, including Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
But she was given a last minute reprieve from a death by firing squad after Philippines authorities arrested her suspected recruiter, who is accused of duping her into carrying the false-bottomed suitcase containing the illegal drugs.
Nine years later, Jakarta handed her back over to authorities in her homeland under a “practical arrangement”, allowing her to serve the rest of her sentence at a prison in the Philippines.
“I wish to convey my gratitude to our dear president who cleared my name and allowed me to reunite with my family,” she said.
Mary Jane Veloso with her sons at the Correctional Institution for Women two years ago. (Reuters: Lisa Marie David)
Veloso said she was looking forward to being reunited with her two sons.
“I was unable to supervise them as they grew up, but I believe it’s not too late,”
she said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he signed Veloso’s pardon on Thursday ahead of her release on Friday.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-26/mary-jane-veloso-free-from-prison/107198528
