China has postponed the execution of three Filipinos found guilty of drug smuggling, the Philippine government said on Friday after its vice president met with Chinese leaders in Beijing.
Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay’s office released a statement in the name of both governments saying China’s top court had delayed next week’s scheduled executions, but gave no new date.
“The Chinese side briefed the vice president on the final verdict of the Supreme People’s Court on the three Filipinos sentenced to death for drug trafficking and the decision of the SPC [Supreme People’s Court] to postpone the execution within the scope of Chinese law,” the statement said.
The man and two women were convicted of smuggling heroin at separate trials in 2008, but Philippine officials have argued they were duped into their crimes and should face long prison sentences instead of execution.
Binay travelled to Beijing to make a last-ditch plea for their lives, while Philippine President Benigno Aquino called for a national prayer vigil in support of the trio.
Binay met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), top foreign policy maker Dai Bingguo (戴秉國) and the president of the Supreme People’s Court, Wang Shengjun (王勝俊). Binay’s spokesman, Joey Salgado, said he believed the trio had only won a reprieve.
“That’s the essence of it,” he said when asked if the statement meant the three would still be executed at a later date.
He said the Chinese government would only say the executions had been postponed “within the scope of Chinese law.”
China confirmed the meetings with Binay in a state media report, but did not mention the executions, saying instead that the talks focused on forging “stronger” relations between the two countries.
The 42-year-old Filipino man and a 32-year-old woman were scheduled to be executed tomorrow in Xiamen. A 38-year-old woman was due to be put to death in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
China had originally rejected Philippine requests for a visit by Binay on behalf of the three drug mules, but softened its stance in a surprise move late on Thursday.
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