A Philippine court rejected on Wednesday a request for bail by a former opposition senator and justice secretary who criticized then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly crackdown on illegal drugs and instead was accused by his administration of drug dealing and was jailed more than six years ago.
U.S. and European legislators have demanded the release of former Sen. Leila de Lima, 63, currently the Philippines’ most prominent prisoner, especially after she was taken hostage last year by three Muslim militants in their failed attempt to escape from prison.
Manila Regional Trial Court Presiding Judge Romeo Buenaventura rejected de Lima’s argument in her request for bail that prosecutors failed to prove that she conspired with codefendants and received payoffs from drug dealing in the national penitentiary when she served as justice secretary and wielded control over the country’s prisons.
“This court is convinced that there is great probability that the crime charged has been committed and that the accused are the agents thereof,” Buenaventura said in his ruling.
The hostage-taking of de Lima in a detention center in the main camp of the Philippine National Police was “an isolated occurrence,” the court said.
JIM GOMEZ, MANILA, MDT/AP
