Manila: The overseas Filipina worker whose execution was halted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday evening should be repatriated so that she can testify against her alleged illegal recruiter, a private lawyer has said.

Mary Jane Veloso was granted the reprieve after a suspected drug trafficker voluntarily surrendered to police in northern Luzon, Philippines on Tuesday afternoon.

“After President Widodo stayed the execution of Mary Jane Veloso, the next best scenario is to allow her to return to the Philippines. She should personally testify against Kristine Sergio, who brought her to Malaysia for work, but sent her to Indonesia instead with luggage containing cocaine,” Edre Olalia, secretary general of National Union of People’s Lawyers said in a phone interview.

Olalia said he and members of Indonesia-based Rudyantho and Partners, a law firm hired by the Philippine government are now aiming for Veloso’s “maximum luck”.

“She was given a reprieve, to give her time to testify in a case filed against the people who victimised her,” explained Olalia, adding that the Indonesian government has recognised the Philippine government’s appeal that she was a victim of illegal recruiters and drug traffickers.

Despite the reprieve, the charges filed against her in a lower court in Yogyakarta were “not yet overturned,” Indonesian legal experts told Gulf News.

“For now, our options are good, considering that President Widodo had interfered and given Veloso presidential reprieve, a minute before her execution,” said Olalia.

“Mary Jane’s sister Maritess told me they received the good news after midnight of Tuesday, after she and family members finished counting shots from the firing squad that executed eight other drug convicts starting 11.45 on Tuesday evening. It was like a tense movie,” Olalia narrated.

“The last minute efforts and pressure exerted by the Philippine government, the non-government and international solidarity groups paid off. What happened was not a small thing,” he said.

Indonesian police transferred Veloso from Nusa Kambangan Island to her former prison cell in Yogyakarta, early on Wednesday morning.

“Members of non-government groups were sleepless for a week for Veloso,” said Ron de Vera of Amnesty International.

“She was a victim of human trafficking. She was betrayed, neglected by the Philippine government and from then on, suffered grave injustice and violations to her rights,” said leaders of international human rights groups, who sent their appeals to Indonesia and also to Karapatan, a Philippine rights group.

“We echo her plea — to hear the plight of Filipino migrant workers who are forced to work outside the country because of poverty and social injustices that continue to this day in Philippine society,” said a statement of 11,000 concerned citizens from 80 countries, that was sent to Indonesia.

Some 10 million Filipina workers are based worldwide. Almost a hundred are on death row, 7,000 in jails and 10,000 illegally recruited are stranded, records show.