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Dutch Lawyer Confident Sison will Win Politically-Motivated Murder Charge
by D. L. Mondelo
Bulatlat
Published on Bulatlat (http://www.bulatlat.com)
Vol. VII, No. 38, October 29-November 3, 2007
Michiel Pestman of the well-known and controversial law firm Bohler Franken
Wijngaarden Koppe Law Office based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
referring to the case against Jose Maria Sison, said, "This case is the most
political trial I've handled. This cannot be seen out of the political context
in the Philippines." But he added that he is confident that they would win
the case because the evidence is weak.
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - A well known and controversial Dutch
lawyer who is defending Prof. Jose Ma. Sison in the charge inciting to
murder said he is confident Sison would not be convicted in the double
murder charge filed by the Dutch Prosecutor's Office.
Michiel Pestman of the well-known and controversial law firm Bohler Franken
Wijngaarden Koppe Law Office based in this city stressed this point during a
forum on "Repression and the violations of human rights under the pretext
of the anti-terror law", held Oct. 12 at the University of Amsterdam.
This was the first ever public forum for Pestman (and Sison who was also
present), since he started handling the Sison case.
Pestman's respected law firm has defended the likes of Abdullah Ocalan,
leader of the Kurdish resistance movement PKK, the murderer of right-wing
Dutch politician Pim Fortuin and controversial anti-Islam politician Ayaan Hirsi
Ali. Rita Bohler, the founder of the firm is a senator of the Green Left Party
in the Dutch Parliament.
Pestman himself is scheduled to travel to Cambodia to defend Nuon Chea,
alleged right-hand man of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, before an international
tribunal there.
At the forum, Pestman explained that the court of appeals in The Hague
decided to reject the appeal of the Dutch prosecution to return Sison to
detention because the evidence presented was weak.
Professor Sison was arrested last Aug. 28 while reporting at a police station
in Utrecht city where he has lived for 20 years. Sison was immediately brought
to the Scheveningen National Penitentiary, and was charged with inciting the
murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, who were both killed by the
New People's Army.
He was released after 14 days because the judges found no prima facie evidence
on the charge.
Pestman revealed that after Sison was released "panic broke out" in the Netherlands
and six Dutch police officers were immediately dispatched to Manila to save the case.
"This case is the most political trial I've handled. This cannot be seen out of the
political context in the Philippines," stressed Pestman.
He also criticized the Philippine government for deliberately misinforming Dutch
authorities because on July 2 this year, the Philippine Supreme Court dismissed
a similar case filed against Sison and several other progressive individuals for lack
of merit and for being politically-motivated.
Pestman said the statements given by the witnesses were not reliable. He said
most of the witnesses executed their affidavits at the U.S. and Dutch embassies
in Manila, debunking claims made earlier by the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines
Kristie A. Kenney that the US. did not interfere in the cases vs. Sison.
He also told the audience that in 2006, Philippine Foreign Affairs Sec. Alberto Romulo
discreetly visited the Netherlands and brought with him a dossier for the Dutch
government on alleged atrocities committed by Sison, complete with photos and
contains about 200 pages. But he said, there was no direct evidence in those papers
connecting Sison to the alleged crimes. Pestman said when the Arroyo government
failed to convince Dutch authorities to extradite Sison, they proceeded to prosecute
him.
In addition to the weak evidence of the prosecution, Pestman said the fact-finding
mission report of the Amsterdam-based Lawyers for Lawyers that went to the
Philippines to inquire into the extrajudicial killings and disappearances attributed to
the Philippine military, became a strong basis for the court in The Hague to release
Sison. A copy of the said report was submitted to the court judges.
The judges in The Hague also said in their decision to release Sison that it would be
risky for defense lawyers to do research on the crime in the Philippines.
They (prosecution) can always amend the charge to war crimes, but it would bolster
the implication that there is an armed conflict and an armed resistance movement in
the Philippines, Pestman further explained.
Bulatlat
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