Asean-MLAT invoked to save Veloso, says de Lima

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III invoked the Asean Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (Asean -LAT) in his last ditch effort to convince Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo to delay the execution of Mary Jane Veloso.

Asean-MLAT is a 2004 multilateral agreement where signatory countries agreed to assist a State in investigating or prosecuting a criminal case.

During her conversation with Aquino Tuesday morning, de Lima said she informed the President of the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Veloso’s recruiters—Maria Kristina Sergio, her live-in partner Julius Lacanilao and a certain “Ike.”

She said if Veloso were executed, the case filed by the NBI would become useless.

“The best tact is let us just target temporary reprieve by citing that we can invoke the Asean-MLAT to get additional information and further testimony from Mary Jane herself,” de Lima said at a press conference Wednesday.

She added that she also communicated with her counterpart in Indonesia, Attorney-General H.M. Prasetyo and Minister for Justice and Human Rights Dr. Amir Syamsuddin, through a letter sent several hours before the scheduled execution of Veloso and eight other drug convicts.

Sergio and Lacanilao are facing charges of illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa by swindling before the Department of Justice (DOJ) after a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe showed that Veloso was their victim.

She did not give more details on the agreement with Indonesia, citing the confidentiality policy under MLAT and the sensitivity of the case. She said she is planning to fly to Indonesia to discuss with her counterparts the legal processes in the country with respect to Veloso’s case.

De Lima said she, together with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, stayed up to the last minute pursuing every means to save Veloso.

“It’s such a wonderful feeling to be able to save a life just in the nick of time… God is really good…It was really just in the nick of time. The last step we did, muntik na sya di umabot,” she said.

On the possibility of a retrial, de Lima said “I am not sure if there is still available avenue under the legal processes in Indonesia because we are not familiar with their laws. But there are political and diplomatic options like the possibility of grant of executive clemency or commutation of sentence,” she explained.

De Lima also stressed that the temporary reprieve gave Veloso the chance to escape death.

“If it will be proven that she was indeed just a victim, I think that will help in her case in Indonesia,” she said.

The DOJ chief cited initial findings of the NBI that Veloso was victim of human trafficking and illegal recruitment. AC

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