YEARENDER: Attacks on witnesses mark 5th year of massacre trial (First of 2 parts)

MANILA, Philippines - A spate of attacks on potential witnesses, both of the prosecution and the defense panels, marked the end of the fifth year of the Maguindanao massacre trial.

Days before the fifth anniversary of the massacre on Nov. 23, a potential prosecution witness – identified as Denex Sacal – was killed in an ambush in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

Another potential prosecution witness, Kaharudin “Butch” Saudagal, also sustained injuries in the ambush.

Private prosecutor Nena Santos said Saudagal has submitted his affidavit, while they were in the process of taking the judicial affidavit of the slain potential witness.

But the story on the ambush deepened when Salvador Panelo – a lawyer of prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. – claimed that Sacal was a defense witness being pressured to turn against the Ampatuans.

 “The real perpetrators of the crime are using their influence dishing out the wrong information to twist the facts and the truth of the Maguindanao massacre,” said Panelo.

Santos, however, said Sacal – a former driver of Ampatuan – is a potential prosecution witness who defected from the camp of Ampatuans.

She decried Panelo’s claims that Sacal was being pressured to turn against the suspects, saying he has voluntarily offered his testimony for the prosecution panel. She said Sacal was one of the witnesses who had been set to meet Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Blotter entries as proof

To prove his claim that Sacal was his witness, Panelo released a blotter entry from the Datu Unsay municipal police station saying the witness received threats after refusing to testify for the prosecution.

Named as the one who issued the threat was former Datu Salibo mayor Akmad Baganian Ampatuan, who later turned out to be a prospective prosecution witness.

The defense lawyer likewise released a blotter showing that Akmad Baganian also threatened prospective defense witness Nellymar Sali, who died in an ambush on Nov. 10.

Responding to the blotter reports, Santos said the documents released by Panelo were taken in the municipality of Datu Unsay, in which the wife of Andal Jr. is the mayor.

“It is common knowledge how co-opted are the police personnel in the Ampatuan-controlled municipalities as shown in how the police personnel were used as conspirators in the setting up of checkpoints and abduction that lead to the massacre of 58 people,” she said.

Earlier this month, Akmad Baganian – a nephew of clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. – was also wounded in an ambush in Maguindanao.

The series of attacks against potential witnesses prompted the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) to issue a statement condemning the incidents.

“It is clear that the slow pace of the trial, which has barely cleared the starting gate after more than five long years because of what have been characterized as delaying tactics, has allowed the continued intimidation, threats and assaults on witnesses and even relatives of the 58 victims, 32 of whom were our colleagues,” said NUJP chairperson Rowena Paraan.

“We reiterate our demand for government to fulfill its pledge of justice by ensuring not just a swift but, most importantly, a fair trial and to fulfill its obligation to protect everyone involved in the Ampatuan massacre trial,” she added.

(To be continued)