The powerful head of a southern Philippine family that gained notoriety for their alleged involvement in a massacre two years ago has pleaded not guilty to a charge of election sabotage.
A crowd of jail officers and family members kept Andal Ampatuan Sr. closed in as he was whisked away in a wheelchair through the halls of a Manila area courthouse. Minutes earlier, the ailing patriarch shook his head and said softly, "not guilty" in a courtroom before the judge.
Ampatuan, 70, is charged with tampering with results in the 2007 senatorial elections. Court documents say he acted on orders from then-President Gloria Arroyo to bring in winning numbers for the 12 candidates under her party's banner. Arroyo is charged as a co-conspirator and pleaded not guilty last month.
Ampatuan's lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun, was tight-lipped about his client's case and agreed to give a statement to journalists only after they pressed him.
"He pleaded not guilty and he applied for bail. So he's waiving his appearance for bail hearings, which starts tomorrow," Fortun explained.
Electoral sabotage is a non-bailable offense and carries a punishment of life imprisonment. But attorneys for the accused can apply for bail and try to prove in a series of hearings that their clients deserve it.
Fortun also gave away little when he was asked to look ahead to the trial.
"I can't say. I do not even know the extent of their evidence so I can't say," he said.
Fortun is also representing Ampatuan in the Maguindanao massacre of 2009, which is considered to be the worst case of election-related violence in the Philippines. In that case, Ampatuan and five other members of his family are accused of overseeing the killings of 58 people, including 32 journalists. They deny any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors say that in November 2009, nearly 200 armed men ambushed a caravan of journalists and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu who were on their way to file his candidacy papers. Mangudadatu planned run for governor of Maguindanao, a known stronghold of the Ampatuans, his political rivals. Mangudadatu's wife and two sisters were among the victims. He became governor in May 2010.
Relatives of the victims bemoan the slow pace of the trial and the fact that more than half of the suspects are still at large. On Sunday authorities arrested Ipeh Ampatuan, a grandson of Andal Senior, in connection with the massacre.
Few of those arrested have entered pleas in court. Ampatuan and his son Andal Junior have pleaded not guilty. They are currently being detained in a Manila-area jail.
Andal Ampatuan Sr. had been confined to a military hospital for two weeks prior to his arraignment Monday. Doctors said he was suffering from pneumonia and other complications related to his diabetes and liver disease.
No comments:
Post a Comment