The Filipina woman who narrowly escaped the execution of those sentenced to death is leaving Indonesia

A Philippine woman who spent nearly 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad is coming home.

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

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

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

“This is a new life for me and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines,” she told a news 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.

While the agreement states that Ms. Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos can grant her a reprieve.

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

She said she was persuaded by the daughter of one of her godfathers to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.

She claims that the woman’s male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she did not know had heroin sewn into it.

She was due to face a firing squad in 2015, but the Philippine government won a reprieve for her at the last minute after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking, while Ms Veloso was named as a witness for the prosecution.

Her postponement was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines were printed with front pages and headlines reporting what had happened.

Ms. Veloso’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 it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.

“I’m carrying a lot of things, like a guitar, books, knitwear… even this T-shirt I’m wearing was given to me by friends,” she said as she left the prison for the airport.

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