Joma on way back to Utrecht post-release-BREAKING NEWS

Joma on way back to Utrecht post-release

Self-exiled Philippine communist leader Jose Maria Sison was scheduled to return to Utrecht base in the Netherlands after being released by Dutch prison authorities, ABS-CBN News reported.

The report sent by correspondent Loui Galicia of ABS-CBN's Europe News bureau said shortly before 3 p.m. in the Netherlands (9 p.m., Manila time), Sison was already with his wife Julie, and Luis Jalandoni, chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front.

Galicia said Sison, his wife and Jalandoni were already preparing for the one-hour trip to Utrecht from the prison in The Hague.

Sison was ordered released after more than two weeks of detention on suspicion that he ordered the murders of two former colleagues in the Philippines.

Wim de Bruin, a spokesman of the Dutch public prosecutor's office, confirmed to Galicia that Sison was scheduled to be released.

The founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines was arrested on August 28 on charges that he ordered the murders of Arturo Tabara, Romulo Kintanar and two other men.Sison and a number of NDF officials have been in self-exile in the Netherlands since the late 1980s.

A rough translation of the press release and decision from the District Court of The Hague, meanwhile, said Sison's case was decided "in camera" and that the accused "should be released from custody immediately."

"The District Court established that these serious offenses have been committed in the Philippines and relate to disagreements inside the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and that the decision to commit these murders was taken within the party structure of the CPP," the press release said.

"Furthermore, the Court recognized that there are many indications in the files which support the point of view that the accused is still playing a leading role in the Central Committee [CC] of the CPP as well as in the military branch of the CPP, the New People's Army (NPA)," it added.

The court also said that: "The files pertaining to the accused do not include indications that Sison, while in the Netherlands, committed the offenses he is charged with in deliberate and close co-operation with the perpetrators in the Philippines."It added that the Sison's files do not contain information that he incited others to commit serious offenses according to the accusations.

The court also believed that the presumptions that Sison ordered the assassinations of his two former comrades as stated by the widows and alleged triggermen “were insufficiently concrete”.

“The statements of the widows and the marksmen, to which the [Dutch] Public Prosecution Service appeals, only refer to the fact that they assume that the murders have been committed by order of the CC of the CPP and therefore an order originating from the accused being the chairman,” said the court decision.

Case won't be dropped

Meanwhile, de Bruin said that the Prosecution will appeal the Court's decision.

“The investigation will be continued. And Mr. Sison is still a suspect and Prosecutor's office will appeal the decision of the court this morning," de Bruin said.

De Bruin said that the charges are not being dropped."The court thought there was not enough [evidence] to keep Mr. Sison in custody," de Bruin said.Sison's release from detention followed a related report that he will remain in solitary confinement in the Netherlands for another 90 days.

The Philippine government and the NDF, meanwhile, immediately issued statements following Sison's release.Jalandoni welcomed the news about Sison’s release from Dutch prison.

“We are happy about the news but we are here now outside the prison awaiting his definitive release,” Jalandoni said.

He said that Sison’s lawyer called him up after receiving information about the release from prison due to insufficient evidence against him.

“The lawyer called that he would try to have Joma released about 12:30 that's 6:30 p.m. there. So were not sure of the final arrangement being made by the lawyers. We are now waiting for his release anytime now,” Jalandoni said.He said Sison’s lawyer is still trying to set an appointment with them on Friday morning to discuss the details of the decision and to talk about the next steps to be taken.

“What is clear is that the court has ordered the immediate release of Prof. Sison because there is insufficiency of evidence on the charge that was made against him,” he said.

Till Christmas?

Jalandoni earlier said that the court decided to extend Sison's detention until Christmas while he undergoes pre-trial investigation for allegedly ordering the assassination of his former comrades.

Jalandoni said he received the information from Michiel Pestman, Sison's chief legal counsel, who in turn said the information came from a clerk of court.

Jalandoni said Dutch authorities violated Sison's recognized right to receive visits from his family and his doctor during his detention.

He added that solitary confinement is inhuman and a disgrace to a government that claims to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

For his part, Jesus Dureza, President Arroyo's adviser on the peace process, said Sison’s arrest and release was a Dutch initiative.

“We should never be surprised when we have been saying that this is a Dutch initiative and this is violation of Dutch laws being handled by the Dutch courts,” Dureza said.

Dureza said that the decision of the Dutch court should be respected.“We want a logical conclusion, of course.

But as to what the conclusion will be is totally with the hands of the Dutch court,” he said.

Dureza added that he would rather not speculate if Sison would avail of the government’s amnesty program saying that “it is something that will have to be voluntarily done by the applicant”.

“Anyone who would wish to avail of it and they fall within the coverage and have committed the crimes as covered by the proclamation (1377) can avail of it,” he said.

With a report from Danny Buenafe, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau chief

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=92350