The CA has prevented a Regional Court Judge from Nueva Ecija from getting Veloso’s deposition at her jail cell in Indonesia against her alleged drug traffickers Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.
“The ruling is just an added pain and continuous agony for Mary Jane who is the unwilling victim used and duped by Sergio and Lacanilao,” CBCP-ECMI chair Bishop Ruperto Santos said.
The Bataan prelate said that Veloso is the one who must be protected and saved but that the appellate court seemed to be giving her human traffickers the leeway.
“How can MJ (Veloso) defend herself and prove her innocence when the CA prevented her from testifying against those who victimized her,” Santos said.
Veloso, a mother of two children from Cabanatuan City, was arrested and sentenced to death for smuggling heroin into Indonesia on April 2010 but was spared.
“Let her speak the truth and free Mary Jane,” CBCP – ECMI demanded.
Veloso turns 33 on Wednesday.
