Ma. Cristina Sergio said Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipino drug carrier sentenced to death after being arrested in Indonesia, did not know she was carrying illegal drugs.
Veloso was given last-minute reprieve before the scheduled execution when Indonesia learned that Sergio, her alleged recruiter, was in police custody.
In Sergio’s 31-page counter-affidavit at Wednesday’s preliminary investigation of the human trafficking and illegal recruitment charges filed against her and live-in partner, Julius Lacanilao, Sergio said she believed Veloso was innocent of the accusation.
“She was victimized and taken advantage of due to her being weak-willed, her great desperation to find a job and her trusting nature. We join the authorities in pressing for the arrest and prosecution of those who victimized her, but not us who had nothing to do about it,” Sergio said in her counteraffidavit prepared with assistance from the Public Attorneys’ Office.
Sergio’s statement is believed to be helpful to free Veloso according to family and lawyer.
“This will help Mary Jane very much. It’s the truth; we’re all here because we want the truth to come out,” Veloso’s mother, Celia, told reporters.
Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers described the counter-affidavt as “a welcome development.”
“This is what we have been saying all along, that she is a victim [of human trafficking]. We will bring this to the attention of our Indonesian counterparts because this is what they have been waiting for.” Olalia said.
Meanwhile, Sergio denied that she and Lacanilao were members of an international drug ring or were engaged in any crime further presenting certifications from the police, the prosecutors’ office and courts in Nueva Ecija as proofs of no pending criminal or civil cases.
H/T: Inquirer.net; and photo.