Article Author:
Associated Press
Jim Gomez
MANILA, PHILIPPINES (AP) — U.S. Senator Edward Markey, once banned in the Philippines by former President Rodrigo Duterte, announced on Friday that Duterte's He says he was wrongfully imprisoned under the law and should be released.
Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and a group of U.S. legislators were held for an hour with former Senator Leila de Lima in a heavily guarded holding cell at a major police camp in Metro Manila. It is said that we met above. Lawyer, Philibong Takardong, police.
Court-approved meeting details were not immediately available.
Duterte banned travel to the Philippines after Marquee and two of his other American lawmakers called for De Lima's release and raised alarm over human rights violations during his presidency. Duterte's turbulent six-year term ended in June.
The former president's brutal anti-drug crackdown that left thousands of impoverished suspects dead has sparked an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Duterte's successor is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was inaugurated on June 30, following a landslide victory over vice-presidential candidate Sarah Duterte, the former president's daughter.
Marquee and his delegation met Marcos his Jr. at the Malacañang Presidential Palace in Manila on Thursday. After the conference, Marcos Jr. said, "We look forward to continuing our partnership with the United States in the areas of renewable energy utilization, agricultural development, economic reform, and mitigating the drug problem."
Duterte's greatest critic, his 62-year-old de Lima, has been in custody for more than five years, and the former president and then-vice president have called for the outlawing. accused of forgery. - bailable drug-related charges that imprisoned her in February 2017; Her arrest and detention effectively prevented her, then a senator, from investigating widespread killings under Duterte's campaign against illegal drugs.
Duterte claimed her guilt, saying witnesses testified that she had received payoffs from an imprisoned drug lord.
De Lima told AP in March in the first court-approved prison interview since her arrest. He told communications: From my family and distrust. '' She later said she had calmed down and continued to fight for human rights and the rule of law from behind prison.
issued a daily statement. Most of it was her critical thoughts on Duterte's rule and her reaction to breaking news like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' victory in her 2020 US election. Hailed as a triumph of democracy over "fabricated populism," she called Russia's invasion of Ukraine an "insane act" that put the world in jeopardy.
She introduced over 600 of her Senate bills and resolutions from prison. Many were aimed at strengthening human rights and government accountability and alleviating poverty. She ran for re-election under the main opposition party in her May 9 election, but a trial court barred her from participating in online campaigns and debates.
De Lima, who was shut from her footsteps in her campaign, sent her clippings of herself to appear in her place. During her detention, de Leila lost her candidacy for re-election.
Markey, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, said in a joint statement with two other U.S. senators in June that then-outgoing President Duterte renewed deep concern about the human rights situation under the
Marcos Jr.'s incoming administration then saw "an opportunity to reject past repression, release Senator Leila de Lima, and adopt policies that support the rule of law and a vibrant press freedom." provided," he said. Philippines. "
It is not immediately clear whether Marquee renewed his request for De Lima's release in Thursday's meeting with Marcos Jr. and how the Philippine leader responded.
