EDITORIAL - Justice delayed

More than two years after the brazen day attack that killed Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and several others, the latest development in the case is disheartening: a court in the Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste has rejected the request of the Philippine government to extradite former Negros Oriental 3rd District congressman Arnolfo Teves, who is being eyed as the main suspect in the incident.

In justifying their decision not to send Teves home, the court said they prohibit extradition if there is a “well-founded risk of being subjected to torture, inhuman, degrading or cruel treatment.”

Teves’ lawyer Ferdinand Topacio dubbed Timor-Leste’s decision “a triumph of the rule of law”.

We aren’t sure where this Timor-Leste court got the impression that we practice torture and cruel treatment. Perhaps someone whispered to their court officials this deceptive information so that they would be swayed to a certain decision? We may never know.

This is a form of justice delayed, and certainly a blow to the families of those killed in the attack. But let’s not forget this can be bad for Teves too, despite his lawyer insisting it’s a triumph.

Unless Topacio forgot, the only way for Teves to clear his name is to submit himself to due process and be cleared by the court.

This delay prolongs Teves’ suffering. The longer proceedings are held off, the longer it will take him to prove the innocence he claims in this incident. Again, we afford him the presumption of innocence because it’s up to the court to say he is guilty of the crime and no one else.

It may also give him false hope, because it’s not likely Timor-Leste --not exactly one of the richest countries in the world-- will be interested in holding him indefinitely and turn him over to the Philippines eventually.

But then again, maybe the Teves camp is hoping to delay the case as long as possible so that evidence degrades or gets lost or misplaced, witnesses forget, and investigators retire or are assigned to other areas. This is a common tactic.

If that is the case then maybe Teves isn’t so innocent after all.