Widodo: Duterte supports execution of Philippine drug trafficker
Jakarta (dpa) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Monday that his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte has given the green light for Indonesia to execute a Philippine woman currently on death row for drug trafficking.
In a statement posted on the cabinet secretary's website, Widodo said he had discussed the suspended execution of Mary Jane Veloso with Duterte during his visit to Indonesia last week, but declined to provide further details.
"President Duterte said at the time to go ahead with the execution," Widodo said after conducting Eid prayers in Serang, Banten province.
He said he told Duterte that Veloso had been caught carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin when she was arrested at Yogyakarta's airport in April 2010, before being sentenced to death in October the same year.
Before his visit to Indonesia, Duterte said he would ask Widodo to grant Veloso leniency, however he made no reference to the case in a joint press statement after their meeting.
Veloso was granted a last-minute stay of execution last year when Philippine authorities requested her testimony in an ongoing legal case in her home country after her boss was arrested.
Both Widodo and Duterte are currently waging a war on drugs in their respective countries. Under Widodo, who took office in 2014, Indonesia has executed 18 people convicted for drug trafficking.
In the Philippines, 1,011 suspected drug users and dealers have been killed in police operations between July 1 and September 4, according to police statistics.
Police also recorded 1,391 deaths during the same period which are still being investigated.
- DPA
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