In May 2015, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a Filipino death row inmate, was moments away from facing a firing squad on an Indonesian prison island. However, a last-minute stay of execution by Indonesia's Attorney General's Office saved her life temporarily. Veloso, who has maintained her innocence since her arrest in 2010 for drug trafficking, was granted a reprieve to provide testimony exposing how she was duped into becoming an unwitting drug courier.
Veloso's emotional reaction to the stay of execution was profound, as she saw a cocoon hanging near her cell the night before, symbolizing hope for a new life. The turn of events leading to her reprieve involved the arrest of her alleged boss in the Philippines, Maria Kristina Sergio, who surrendered just days before Veloso's scheduled execution.
