Dutch appellate court upholds Joma freedom

Dutch appellate court upholds Joma freedom

The Dutch Court of Appeals has upheld a decision to release Filipino communist leader Jose Maria Sison while he undergoes pretrial investigation, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported Wednesday.

The appellate court in the Hague favored the September 13 decision of a district court to free Sison, rejecting the appeal by the public prosecutor to detain the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) pending investigation.

Sison is under investigation by Dutch authorities on charges that he ordered the assassination of his two former comrades in the Philippines, Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, while living in the Netherlands.

According to prosecutors, Sison, 68, ordered the assassination of former New People’s Army (NPA) leader Kintanar on Jan. 23, 2003.

The murder was claimed by the NPA itself in an official publication, they said. Prosecutors are also investigating Sison’s role in the murders of Tabara and his son-in-law, Stephen Ong, on Sept. 26, 2006.

Tabara was a member of the highest command of the NPA and his assassination was also claimed by that group.

The appellate court said, "The prosecution file lacks enough concrete evidence to directly link Sison to the assassinations which is needed to prosecute him as a perpetrator.

"The ruling, however, does not preclude Sison from being prosecuted on murder charges. It only denied the prosecutor's request to keep someone in custody. It added that the public prosecutor's office will be the one to decide on whether or not to press charges.

The report said the appellate court’s decision was expected since prosecutors did not ask Sison to appear Wednesday before a panel of three judges at the Palace of Justice.

The report also said the absence of tight security in front of the justice hall was also unusual unlike in the previous three proceedings when authorities barricaded the entrance.

Sison's wife, Juliet, was the first to receive the favorable decision through a phone call from lawyer Michiel Pestman.

Sison was then at a Utrecht police station to fulfill part of a weekly requirement to report to the police.

The communist leader's weekly requirement to report to police officials is not related to his case but is a procedure by authorities to allow him to stay in exile the Netherlands.

At present, Sison is still an asylum seeker in the Netherlands.

Sison has been living in the Netherlands since 1987. He was arrested on August 28 this year in Utrecht.

With reports from Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau and AFP

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=94511