DOJ asked: Reinvestigate rebellion case vs Misuari

COTABATO CITY — Lawyers of jailed former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari have asked for a reinvestigation of his rebellion case, convinced that he would be exonerated due to lack of evidence linking him to the 2001 bloody revolt by his followers in Sulu.

Randolph Parcasio, legal adviser of Misuari, told Catholic radio station dxMS here the other day that they have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to rein—vestigate the former governor’s rebellion case.

Misuari has been incarcerated at a special detention facility in Sta. Rosa, Laguna since 2002.

Misuari wanted to run for Sulu governor but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified him for not being a registered voter of the island-province.

Parcasio, who was Misuari’s executive secretary when he was still ARMM governor, said a reinvestigation would provide the DOJ enough basis to dismiss the rebellion charges.

Parcasio described as "virtually weak" the evidence against Misuari, who was elected as third ARMM governor on Sept. 9, 1996, or seven days after the forging of the vaunted peace agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

"There is very weak evidence against him. Very weak, indeed," Parcasio told dxMS.

Misuari was ousted as MNLF chairman in early 2000 by members of the front’s central committee belonging to the so-called "Council of 15," among them Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, ARMM Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan and Sulu Gov. Yusoph Jikiri, due to loss of confidence in his leadership.

Misuari’s followers in Central Mindanao earlier appealed to President Arroyo to grant him "executive clemency" and release him from detention to prove the sincerity of her administration’s peace initiatives in the South.

Misuari, along with the late former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chieftain Hashim Salamat, founded the MNLF in the late 1960s.

Salamat bolted the MNLF in the late 1970s due to "irreconcilable differences" with Misuari and, subsequently, established the MILF, now engaged in peace talks with the government.