Locating The Case of Mary Jane Veloso in The Context of the Securitization of Illegal Drugs in Indonesia
Keywords:
Mary Jane Veloso, Indonesia, War on Drugs, Securitization, Drug PolicyAbstract
This paper revisits the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina arrested in Indonesia on charges of transporting illegal drugs to the country. Convicted and sentenced with the death penalty, Veloso was in prison in Indonesia from 2010 to 2024, before being sent back to the Philippines where she is to be incarcerated awaiting further developments as to whether the case would be commuted leading to her release. The case of Veloso intersects issues of human rights, transnational crime, human trafficking, and illegal drugs and has witnessed numerous campaigns that advocate for her release. The paper focuses on the dimension of illegal drugs and locates the case within a broader discussion of the international drug control regime and Indonesia’s punitive policy on illegal drugs. In particular, Joko Widodo’s presidency and war on drugs is presented as an important context that demonstrates the securitization of illegal drugs in Indonesia. Within this frame, the paper makes a case to further understand the complexity of Veloso’s arrest, conviction, and detention as it has become an international issue as well as a domestic concern in Indonesia.
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