Private, state lawyers’ row over Ampatuan massacre case handling worsens
By Benjamin B. Pulta 06/29/2010 Conflict between private prosecutors and government lawyers handling the controversial Maguindanao massacre victims case continued to unravel yesterday after the two parties continued to exchange words in public. “You know how we are defending the massacre victims,” Chief State Prosecutor Claro Arellano told reporters in an interview, reacting to the statement of lawyer and private prosecutor Harry Roque that Suwaib Upham aka “Jessie,” a witness in the massacre who was killed by still unidentified assailants last week, does not trust the Department of Justice (DoJ). Upham, supposedly agreed to testify against the Ampatuan clan, which is being blamed for the kidnap, mutilation, rape and murder of the victims. Roque, who represents the relatives of some of the massacre victims, said Upham did not want to go to the DoJ office “because he heard from his bosses that they (Ampatuans) controlled DoJ.” Arellano said he felt personally insulted by Roque’s statement. “In the first place, why he would doubt the DoJ? There’s no proof that we connived with the Ampatuans,” he said. Arellano in April, walked out of their offices in protest of the decision of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra clearing two members of the Ampatuan clan of involvement in the incident. “We publicly disagreed with the resolution of Secretary Agra. We took that risk. We could have lost our jobs,” Arellano said. Agra reversed his ruling in May following widespread indignation. Arellano pointed out that “Jessie” cannot be considered a witness in the case because he had not been personally turned over to the DoJ. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100629hed6.html |
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