Dutch court to decide on motion to probe Joma till December
By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
The District Court in The Hague is set to issue on or before June 10 its decision on the Public Prosecutor’s Office motion to extend the investigation of allegations against Jose Maria Sison until December 2008, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported.
In a hearing Tuesday by the District Court in the Palace of Justice, the judge heard the Communist Party of the Philippine’s founding chair’s appeal against the Prosecution’s motion.
In the two hours of proceedings that began at 10 am (5 pm Manila), the judge heard Sison’s lawyer Michiel Pestman and Sison’s statements.
However, the big turn of event during the proceeding was when the Prosecution requested a three-hour extension to present its side and new evidences against Sison’s alleged involvement in the murders of his erstwhile allies Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in the Philippines.
Luis Jalandoni, National Democratic Front (NDF) chief negotiator in peace talks with the Philippine government, told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that the Dutch prosecutors may seek for the immediate re-arrest of Sison.
After the proceedings, Sison however clarified that his camp became nervous when the Prosecution requested for the three-hour extension of the court proceeding.
"Ganito, unusual ‘yong request ng Prosecution na they wanted three hours to talk kaya me nagpalagay na baka lulutin ako in three hours," Sison said.
A protest was launched by Sison’s friends and sympathizers outside the Palace of Justice in The Hague from 10 am and most of them, mainly from the NDF such as Jalandoni, Fidel Agcaoili and Connie Ledesma, stayed until 3:30 pm, when the proceedings finished.
Sison: No new evidence presented
"So nagkaroon ng hearing tungkol sa complaint namin at kahilingan na dapat hindi na dapat ituloy yung investigation dahil na ‘yong mga unang court decisions na pinanalo ko at pagkatapos examining judge na nasa anatas ng Prosecution and police eh nag backout na. Imbes na pumayag ang Prosecution na tumigil eh gusto pa nila another six months pa. Pero sabi ng abogado ko, beginning of the end," Sison explained.
Sison said that the Court has three weeks to issue its decision and that he doesn’t need to be present.
"I don’t have to go to the Palace of Justice. We will just receive the decision by fax," Sison said.
Sison said that he did not hear any new evidence against him.
"Wala ni katiting. Walang makapagbabago sa ruling ng Court of Appeals na walang prima facie evidence tapos lumilitaw na yung political context which prevents me from having justice as far as the Philippines is concerned. ‘Yong political context binatikos kasi ng Court of Appeals. Sa political context, politically motivated ang charge, unreliable ‘yong witnesses. It’s doubtful whether I can exercise my right to examine the witnesses and get witnesses favorable to me in the Philippines. Ngayon may mga findings na sapilitan na inililitaw ng Prosecution tungkol sa ibang sinuspect, ibang chinarge dati ng Quezon City police at mismong widow ni Kintanar, sa pagpatay ni Kintanar," Sison said.
Exculpatory evidences?
Ledesma told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that she was translating into English for Sison, the transcripts of witness testimonies sent recently by the Prosecution and from these transcripts, she said she saw exculpatory evidences for Sison.
Even Agcaoili confirmed to ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau that in one testimony, a certain Edwin Garcia was directly accused by Joy Kintanar as a suspect in the slay of her husband as police reportedly has a record of him running from the crime scene with a gun.
Jalandoni also added that a testimony of one witness, who he named as Flaminiano, that the latter identified as having seen a certain Armando Liwanag as a slim, balding guy with chinky eyes and fair complexion. When the witness saw the photograph of Sison in one newspaper article however, he said that this is not the same person.
These are just some examples of the exculpatory evidences that Sison’s camp said the Prosecution possessed since last year but did not give to Sison’s lawyer Michiel Pestman till two weeks ago.
In other legal systems, part of the Rule of Procedure and Evidence call for the disclosure of exculpatory evidence to the accused.
"It’s not too late yet. The Dutch system is not comparable to the Filipino or the American legal system so they can produce evidence later if they decide to do so. And what they decided to do is really late now. And we’ll have to see what the court will decide with it if this case will ever reach the court," Pestman said.
According to Pestman, the Prosecution is in breach of its disclosure obligations but that in The Netherlands, it’s a different ball game.
"We said that they were in breach but whether they actually are, it’s up to the judge to decide and whether this case is going to reach a judge, is the question," Pestman said.
"The court has three weeks to take a decision. We just have to wait and see," Pestman said.
"All I know at this very moment is that there is no strong evidence involving Mr. Sison against the murders of Kintanar and Tabara. And there is no evidence presented in the last six months. And the question is whether the court will allow them more time to get the evidence they haven’t got yet," Pestman added.
As he had said in his past interviews, Pestman thinks that the Prosecution is desperately trying to hold on this to this very important case but he remains firm and confident that it will never lead to anything.
SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
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