EDITORIAL – Give him justice

Here’s another reason to lose confidence in the country’s justice system. The government is said to be considering proposals for the temporary release of Nur Misuari, founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front. Since 2001 Misuari has been languishing in maximum-security detention at a special police camp in Laguna for leading a so-called mini-rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga City that left over 100 people dead. Now we’re being told that the government has no case against Misuari because witnesses against him have recanted. This, we are told, warrants Misuari’s release, even temporarily, so he can attend a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Saudi Arabia in July.

What sort of witnesses have recanted? Millions of Filipinos witnessed, live on TV, how Misuari and his followers, in an attempt to regain power in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which he had mismanaged, went on a rampage in Sulu and Zamboanga for several days in November 2001. That rebellion was fully documented; Christian hostages were taken and used as human shields. Defeated, Misuari fled to Malaysia, where authorities arrested him in Sabah and turned him over to Manila.

Surely this is not the sort of man the OIC wants sitting as an observer at its meetings. But you can’t blame OIC members for suspecting that the government has no case against Misuari. How long will it take to try this case? These days Misuari is demanding privileges enjoyed by another VIP inmate, deposed President Joseph Estrada, who is rotting away in detention while the justice system takes its usual leisurely pace.

So far Misuari has not been sent to Hong Kong for medical treatment, and he does not own a spacious rest house where he can be detained in comfort. But he’s getting there. The best deal he should seek from this government, however, is speedy justice. If Misuari is guilty, he can seek presidential pardon, which under the circumstances he’s likely to get. If he’s innocent, he should be the one pushing for his speedy acquittal. If the government wants to please the OIC, the best way to do it is by showing that the justice system works in this country.