‘Pacman’ visits death row drug convict
Print Edition
BOXING superstar Manny Pacquiao yesterday visited a Filipina on death row in Indonesia, with the convict breaking down in tears as she prayed behind bars with the Philippine sporting hero.
Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in Indonesia after being arrested in 2009 with 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into the lining of her suitcase.
She had been due to face the firing squad along with other foreign drug convicts in April but was granted a temporary reprieve after a woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested in the Philippines.
Indonesian authorities have insisted the case of Veloso, who has always maintained her innocence claiming that human-traffickers duped her, has only been postponed while legal proceedings run their course in the Philippines.
“We’re hoping to help save Mary Jane’s life, I think Mary Jane is a victim of human-trafficking,” Pacquiao said after visiting the single mother of two in Wirogunan prison on the main island of Java.
During a 30-minute meeting, Pacquiao and his wife Jinkee prayed with Veloso. The convict broke down in tears as she prayed, said a government official who witnessed the meeting, and at one point tightly embraced the boxing star.
They swapped gifts, with Veloso giving Pacquiao a blue scarf emblazoned with his nickname “Pacman,” and the boxer giving her money.
However prison officials said they would keep the money for her as it was against the rules for inmates to have cash. They did not say how much it was.
Indonesian President Widodo has vowed there will be no clemency for drug traffickers on death row as Indonesia is facing an “emergency” due to rising narcotics use.
Seven other foreigners and one Indonesian were executed on the prison island of Nusakambangan in late April.
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