MANILA, Philippines — A day before the sixth anniversary of her detention on drug charges that she says were manufactured, Amnesty International has reiterated calls to free former Sen. Leila de Lima.
The organization pointed out that the the charges filed against the former lawmaker "have utterly collapsed" after witnesses retracted their respective statements. Some have claimed to have been coerced into testifying against De Lima, who was accused by the Duterte administration of involvement in the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
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"The Marcos administration must ensure the immediate and unconditional release of de Lima and drop all charges against her. The authorities must also conduct a thorough, independent, transparent, and effective investigation into the attacks against her,” Amnesty International Southeast Asia researcher Rachel Choa-Howard said in a statement.
"Those responsible for violations of her rights since her arrest, including her arbitrary detention, must be brought to justice in fair trials."
De Lima was arrested in February 2017 due to drug-related charges.
Groups here and abroad found her arrest and detainment were related to her investigation on former President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called “war on drugs,” as they described charges against her as fabricated.
Amnesty International also noted that court proceedings on the former senator’s cases have been delayed in the past years.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2018 also found that her detention was “arbitrary and in absence of legal basis.” – Kaycee Valmonte