Last night, eight prisoners in Indonesia were executed. One woman had her life spared.
Two Australians, along with six other prisoners, were executed by firing squad in Indonesia at 3.25am AEST.
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But as we came to learn Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had been executed, the startling news came through that one prisoner, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, was spared with an extraordinary last minute stay.
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso ( Facebook)
The Jakarta Post reported at 1.10am, Mary Jane Veloso’s execution was delayed because the person who recruited her as a drug courier handed themselves in to the police in the Philippines.
Following this revelation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo asked the Indonesian Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo to delay the execution of Ms Veloso just hours before she was due to die.
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Mr Prasetyo’s spokesperson, Tony Spontana said: “The execution of Mary Jane has been postponed because there was a request from the Philippine president related to a perpetrator suspected of human trafficking who surrendered herself in the Philippines.
“Mary Jane has been asked to testify.”
News Limited reports Ms Veloso’s family were on a bus bound for Jakarta to collect Mary Jane’s body when the news broke.
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The mother of Mary Jane has expressed her joy at the news.
Celia Veloso, told Filipino radio station DZMM “miracles do come true.”
“We are so happy, I can’t believe it. I can’t believe my child will live. We had no more hope,” she said.
“My [other] children were already in the island waiting to pick up her body. We are all so happy.
“Her kids were all awake, yelling ‘Yes, yes, mama will live!’ I will tell her it is true what she said: if God wants you to live, as long as there is a minute left, he will save you.”
The execution of the single mother of two had long been protested by the Indonesian public. Guardian Australia reports people cheered, cried and hugged in the streets when they learned of her reprieve.
Mary Jane, 30, was arrested at an airport in 2010, after attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Yogyakarta from Malaysia.
According to Rappler, an Indonesian social news site, Ms Veloso is a single mother of two boys from Manila, who initially travelled to Malaysia to be a domestic helper.
After her employment fell through, she agreed to smuggle two suitcases of heroin to Indonesia.
Now, there are reports Ms Veloso was trafficked to Indonesia by a woman known as Maria Kristina Sergio.
According to News Limited, Ms Sergio turned herself into police out of fear for her safety, after it was revealed she recruited Veloso and facilitated her entry into Indonesia.
Ms Sergio has been implicated in the case previously, as Ms Veloso claims she was unaware a suitcase given to her by Ms Sergio’s boyfriend contained the drugs that got her arrested.
Ms Sergio has been arrested by Filipino police and charged with recruiting Veloso. Ms Veloso is required to testify at the trial.
It is assumed, but not yet confirmed, whether Ms Veloso’s execution will still go ahead after her testimony.
Some of the reactions on social media today:
Social media reactions to Bali Nine executions
Clive Palmer's response
Australian actor Guy Pearce's response
Social commentator Jane Caro's response
Sir Richard Branson's response
Actor David Wenham's response
Leader of the opposition Bill Shorten's response
Leader of the opposition Bill Shorten's response
Actor Sam Neill's response
Penny Wong's response
Christine Milne's response
Annabel Crabb's response
Mia Freedman's response
Tanya Plibersek's response
Journalist Tony Wilson's response
Fiona Scott's response
Anthony Albanese's response
Politician Steven Ciobo's response
Fashion Designer Alice McCall's response
Actor Jared Leto's response
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