A district court in Yogyakarta will begin on Tuesday its crucial review on the case of a convicted Filipina drug smuggler who is facing execution in Indonesia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
The review will determine whether the Filipino convict's death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment or not.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said "the process is already under way" after Indonesia's Supreme Court transmitted the Filipina's case records to the lower court.
"We are hopeful that after completion of review, there will be a commutation of the death sentence," Jose said at a press briefing.
The review was undertaken following a request from the Philippine government in a bid to save the unnamed Filipino from execution by firing squad.
Jose said the DFA is not aware how long the review will last.
All death penalty cases in Indonesia are entitled to at least 1 judicial review even if the case has already been upheld by the Supreme Court.
"We have 1 more remedy in this case so let us await for the outcome," Jose said. "We are taking this 1 step at a time."
The woman, who entered Indonesia as a tourist, was arrested by authorities at the Yogyakarta Airport on April 25, 2010 for trafficking 2.6 kilograms of heroin.
Smuggling of large quantities of prohibited drugs is punishable by death in countries like Indonesia and China.
Since 2011, 5 Filipinos drug couriers were put to death in China through lethal injection.
In exchange for huge payments, reportedly ranging from $3,000 to $4,000, Filipino women and lately even men are reportedly being hired by West African drug syndicates to smuggle drugs mainly in Asia and South America, sometimes by ingesting it.
A total of 805 Filipinos are detained abroad for drug-related offenses, according to 2014 DFA data.
Source: GMA News, March 2, 2015
