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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

Mary Jane Veloso's 2nd appeal (PK) rejected

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Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso
Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso
The Sleman District Court (PN) on Monday rejected a second appeal for a case review (PK) submitted by Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a death row inmate from the Philippines.

"PN Sleman has declared that Mary Jane's 2nd PK request is rejected," the court's spokesperson, Marliyus, told journalists on Monday.

Agus Salim, a member of Veloso's legal team, submitted the 2nd PK request with the PN Sleman on Monday morning. After a string of discussions, PN Sleman head Rochmad decided that Veloso's 2nd PK request could not be accepted.

"This is based on Supreme Court (MA) Circular No.7/2014 on the PK submission procedure for criminal cases, which stipulates that a PK request can be submitted only once," said Marliyus.

Agus confirmed that the PN Sleman had rejected Veloso's 2nd PK request. With the rejection, Veloso will likely face a firing squad early on Tuesday.

Agus said that in the 2nd PK request, Veloso, via her lawyer, presented a new finding, or novum, obtained from an investigation conducted by a national drug agency in the Philippines. "Results of the investigation reveal that Mary Jane is not a courier in the international drug trade. This finding has been confirmed by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN)," said Agus.

He asserted that Veloso was not aware at all that a suitcase she brought from Malaysia to Yogyakarta contained 2.6 kilograms of heroin. "It seems that the judicial panel did not want to include the novum in their considerations," said Agus.

He said during Veloso's trial the identities of the heroin's supplier and seller and its cost had never been revealed.

"The death sentence for Mary Jane is too much. Initially, prosecutors sought only a life sentence for her, but the judicial panel decided to sentence her with the death penalty," said Agus.

Source: The Jakarta Post, April 27, 2015

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Location: Republic of Indonesia
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