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Rights defenders decry courts’ junking of motions filed by detained labor organizers
Relatives and friends of the seven human rights defenders arrested on Dec. 10 call for the immediate release of their loved ones in a press conference, Dec. 14 at the Commission on Human Rights. (Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea /Bulatlat)“It is absurd that the Mandaluyong court saw the inconsistencies and defects of the narratives and evidence provided by the police in arresting Esparago and Salem but the same set of facts were ignored by QC and Manila courts.”
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Journalist Lady Ann Salem, who was arrested by police along with six other activists on Human Rights Day. Photo by Manila Today, a content partner of Global Voices, used with permission.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly expressed his scorn for human rights in his public speeches, calling rights activists ‘enemies of the state’ and threatening to allow the police to shoot them dead. As if to stress the Duterte government’s utter contempt for human rights, on International Human Rights Day, police operatives arrested a journalist and six labor union activists in their Metro Manila homes on allegedly trumped-up charges of possessing weapons.
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+ December 15, 2020 CRIMINAL Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Director Major General Joel Coronel vouched on the legality of the police operations that resulted in the arrest of several activist group members last week.
He said warrants have been applied against the arrested personalities based on credible and reliable information provided by informants to the courts who examined these witnesses under oath. Again, as I have explained earlier, the operations conducted by the PNP (Philippine National Police) led by the CIDG are all covered by search warrants validly issued by the RTC Branch 89 of Quezon City, he said in a press conference.
SunStar 2 activists arrested on Human Rights Day
MANILA. Lady Ann Salem is shown in an unmarked vehicle after she was taken from her home on December 10, 2020. She is under CIDG custody. (From NUJP)
+ December 10, 2020 (UPDATED) As Human Rights Day was observed across the globe on Thursday, December 10, 2020, police arrested a trade union organizer and an editor of alternative press Manila Today.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Denisse Velasco and Lady Ann Salem were among seven persons arrested in simultaneous operations against loose firearms and criminal gangs.
A certain Rodrigo Esparago was also arrested when the CIDG served a search warrant for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition against Salem.