A Filipino woman who narrowly escaped execution on death row is leaving Indonesia

A woman from the Philippines who spent nearly 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly shot is on her way home.

Mary Jane Velaza was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found with 2.6 kg (5.7 lb) of heroin through an Indonesian airport.

But the 39-year-old mother of two always claimed that she was tricked into carrying drugs.

She was handed over to Philippine officials on Tuesday evening after the two governments reached a deal to allow her to return home.

“It’s a new life for me and I’ll have a new start in the Philippines,” she told a press conference, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

“I have to go home, because I have a family there, my children are waiting for me.”

Although the agreement says Ms. Veloza will return to prison, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos can grant her a reprieve.

Ms. Velosa was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta Airport.

She said the daughter of one of her godparents convinced her to go to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.

She claimed the woman’s friends had given her new clothes and a new bag, which she didn’t know was laced with heroin.

She was due to be executed in 2015, but the Philippine government secured a last-minute reprieve for her after a woman suspected of being her recruiter was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking and Ms. Veloza was named as a prosecution witness.

Her reprieve was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines went to print with front pages and headlines reporting that it had happened.

Ms. Velaz’s case has drawn widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.

Her circumstances were familiar to many in the Philippines, where women typically escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic workers.

“I’m carrying a lot of things, like my guitar, books, knitting… even this T-shirt I’m wearing was a gift from my friends,” she said as she left the prison for the airport.

Her transfer comes just days after the other five members the infamous Balinese Nine drug gang has returned home after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.