Munti Court acquits De Lima on 2nd drug charge, bail eyed on 3rd case READ MORE:
Detained former Senator Leila De Lima leaves the Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa City on Friday after attending the hearing on one of the remaining illegal drugs charges against her, in which she was acquitted.A Muntinlupa City court has acquitted detained former senator Leila de Lima of one of the two remaining drug cases filed against her that alleged she was involved in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison when she still headed the Department of Justice.
Panelo said Duterte told him that as a lawyer he should abide by the court ruling on De Lima’s case, according to a GMA News “24 Oras” report. De Lima, who has been detained in Camp Crame since February 2017, was accused of benefiting financially from the alleged illegal drug trade inside the NBP during her stint as Justice secretary to support her senatorial bid in 2016. She has consistently denied these allegations.Ragos had earlier claimed that he and aide Jovencio Ablen Jr. delivered P5 million in proceeds from the illegal drug trade inside the NBP to De Lima’s house in Parañaque City in 2012.
The senator also extended her gratitude to those who expressed their support and prayed for her throughout the years. De Lima has been detained since February 2017 on charges she and human rights groups say were fabricated as payback for going after Duterte and his war on drugs that left thousands of Pinoys dead.
“Vigilance in eradicating illegal drugs cannot come at the expense of disregarding the rule of law,” the court ruling said. A UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in 2018 that De Lima’s detention was “arbitrary given the absence of a legal basis” and that her right to a fair trial had not been “respected”.
De Lima won a Senate seat in 2016, becoming one of the body’s few opposition voices after Duterte’s landslide victory.The charges that followed were an act of “vengeance” by Duterte to silence her and warn others not to oppose him, De Lima said.The lawyer and mother of two has been held in a compound for high-profile detainees, rather than in one of the Philippines’ overcrowded jails.
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