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Philippines senator who branded President Duterte 'serial killer' arrested Philippines senator who branded President Duterte 'serial killer' arrested
(about 5 hours later)
The highest-profile opponent of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs has been arrested – on charges of drug trafficking. The highest-profile critic of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug war was arrested on Friday on charges she said were meant to silence her, but she vowed to keep fighting the “sociopathic serial killer”.
The arrest of Senator Leila de Lima, had been announced on Thursday, outraging her supporters and human rights activists, who said the government had manufactured drug trafficking charges to silence her criticism of Duterte and intimidate others. Speaking to journalists minutes before armed police in flak jackets detained her, Senator Leila de Lima insisted she was innocent of the drug trafficking charges that could see her jailed for life.
The 57-year-old lawyer, who has spent nearly a decade trying to link Duterte to death squads that have allegedly killed thousands of people, could be jailed for life if she is found guilty of the charges. “It is my honour to be imprisoned for the things I am fighting for. Please pray for me,” De Lima said outside her Senate office where she had sought temporary refuge overnight after an arrest warrant was issued on Thursday.
“I have no plans of fleeing and I have no plans to go in hiding. I will face all these charges,” a tearful De Lima told reporters at the Senate on Thursday evening after a Manila court issued the arrest warrant. “They will not be able to silence me and stop me from fighting for the truth and justice and against the daily killings and repression by the Duterte regime.”
De Lima then went to her home in another part of the capital after believing she had secured an agreement with authorities to surrender on Friday morning. De Lima had appealed late on Thursday night for police not to arrest her overnight, and committed to surrendering on Friday. “If they respect the Senate as an institution, they should not force an arrest tonight,” she told reporters.
But, after police were seen on national television driving to her home to arrest her, De Lima quickly left and returned to the perceived safety of the Senate building. When Friday morning came reporters had gathered in their dozens and watched as De Lima was escorted from her office into a waiting police minibus.
De Lima appealed late on Thursday night for police not to arrest her overnight, and committed to surrendering on Friday. De Lima recorded a video just before her arrest as she called for ordinary Filipinos to show courage and oppose Duterte’s drug war, which has seen more than 6,500 people killed since he took office eight months ago.
“If they respect the Senate as an institution, they should not force an arrest tonight,” she told reporters at the Senate. “There is no doubt that our president is a murderer and a sociopathic serial killer,” she said in the 10-minute video that was posted on her Facebook page.
Police followed her to the Senate. But, signalling an apparent pause to a night of intense drama, the head of security at the Senate and De Lima’s aides said police had committed to waiting until Friday morning to arrest her. De Lima, a former human rights commissioner, also said her arrest was an act of revenge for her decade-long efforts to expose Duterte as the leader of death squads during his time as mayor of southern Davao city.
When morning came reporters had gathered in their dozens and watched as De Lima was escorted from her office into a waiting police minibus. Duterte first raised allegations in August that De Lima had been running a drug trafficking ring with criminals inside the nation’s biggest prison when she was the justice secretary in the previous government of Benigno Aquino.
As she left she was quoted saying: “It is my honour that I will be imprisoned for the things I am fighting for.” “I will have to destroy her in public,” Duterte said then as he began a campaign to tarnish her reputation, including by making unsubstantiated allegations about her sex life.
De Lima is accused of orchestrating a drug trafficking ring when she was justice secretary in the previous administration of Benigno Aquino. De Lima was last week charged with three counts of drug trafficking.
But De Lima and her supporters insist she is innocent, and that Duterte wants to crush one of his most vocal and enduring critics. She and her supporters insisted that Duterte orchestrated the charges not just to crush her opposition, but also to intimidate anyone else who may want to speak out against the president or his drug war.
De Lima this week branded Duterte a “sociopathic serial killer” as she called for ordinary Filipinos to stand up in opposition to his drug war, which has seen more than 6,500 people killed since he took office eight months ago. “People are afraid,” Father Robert Reyes, an activist priest who spent the night at the Senate with De Lima and other supporters, told AFP after her arrest. “If the government can arrest a powerful person like her, what more the little man? That is the implied message of her arrest.”
De Lima’s Liberal Party, which ruled for six years under Aquino, voiced deep anger on Thursday at her imminent arrest. Vice-president Leni Robredo, a member of De Lima’s opposition Liberal party and elected separately from Duterte, described the arrest as “political harassment”.
“This arrest is purely political vendetta and has no place in (a) justice system that upholds the rule of law. This is condemnable. We reiterate that an arrest based on trumped-up charges is illegal,” it said in a statement. De Lima’s Liberal party, which ruled for six years under Aquino, voiced deep anger. “This arrest is purely political vendetta and has no place in [a] justice system that upholds the rule of law. This is condemnable. We reiterate that an arrest based on trumped-up charges is illegal,” it said in a statement.
The party also said it feared for De Lima’s life once she was arrested, citing the police killing of another politician, Rolando Espinosa, inside a jail cell in November last year after he was arrested on drug charges. The party also said it feared for De Lima’s life, citing the police killing of another politician, Rolando Espinosa, inside a jail cell in November last year after he was arrested on drug charges.
The National Bureau of Investigation said the police who raided the jail murdered him and that he was defenceless. But Duterte defended the police and vowed they would not be jailed.The National Bureau of Investigation said the police who raided the jail murdered him and that he was defenceless. But Duterte defended the police and vowed they would not be jailed.
Duterte, 71, won the presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people. Amnesty International said on Thursday that it would regard De Lima as a prisoner of conscience. “The arrest of De Lima is a blatant attempt by the Philippine government to silence criticism of President Duterte and divert attention away from serious human rights violations in the ‘war on drugs’,” it said.
He immediately launched the crackdown after taking office in June and police have reported killing 2,555 drug suspects since then, with about 4,000 other people murdered in unexplained circumstances. Duterte’s aides insisted they had a strong case against De Lima and said her arrest showed even the most powerful people would be brought to justice if they broke the law.
Amnesty International has warned that police actions in the drug war may amount to crimes against humanity. “The war on illegal drugs targets all who are involved and the arrest of an incumbent senator demonstrates the president’s strong resolve to fight pushers, peddlers and their protectors,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
Amnesty said Thursday that, if De Lima was arrested, it would regard her as a prisoner of conscience. Duterte won the presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.
“The arrest of de Lima is a blatant attempt by the Philippine government to silence criticism of President Duterte and divert attention away from serious human rights violations in the ’war on drugs’,” it said. He launched the crackdown immediately after taking office in June and police have reported killing 2,555 drug suspects since then, with about 4,000 other people murdered in unexplained circumstances.
But Duterte’s aides said De Lima’s imminent arrest showed even the most powerful people would be brought to justice if they broke the law. Amnesty has warned that police actions in the drug war may amount to crimes against humanity.
“The war on illegal drugs targets all who are involved and the arrest of an incumbent senator demonstrates the President’s strong resolve to fight pushers, peddlers and their protectors,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said. Duterte has variously denied and acknowledged his role in death squads in Davao. As president he has repeatedly urged police to kill drug addicts as well as traffickers.
But Duterte’s aides insist he has never broken any laws.