Political prisoners in Camp Crame announced yesterday their participation on the nationwide fasting of political prisoners against the conviction of peace consultant Eduardo Sarmiento.
"Makaisang panig siyang hinusgahan na may sala ni Judge Myra Bayot-Quiambao ng Muntinlupa RTC kahit may nalabag na sistema sa maayos na pangangalaga ng ebidensya (isang piraso na fragmentation grenade) at kwestyunable pa ang pagtestigo ng mga pulis na nag-aresto sa kanya," ([Sarmiento] was one-sidedly convicted guilty by Judge Myra Bayot-Quiambao of Muntinlupa RTC despite violations on the evidence’s (a single fragmentation granade) chain of custody and questionable testimonies of the arresting officers.) the Camp Crame political prisoners said in a statement.
Political prisoners in Camp Crame announced yesterday their participation on the nationwide fasting of political prisoners against the conviction of peace consultant Eduardo Sarmiento.
"Makaisang panig siyang hinusgahan na may sala ni Judge Myra Bayot-Quiambao ng Muntinlupa RTC kahit may nalabag na sistema sa maayos na pangangalaga ng ebidensya (isang piraso na fragmentation grenade) at kwestyunable pa ang pagtestigo ng mga pulis na nag-aresto sa kanya," ([Sarmiento] was one-sidedly convicted guilty by Judge Myra Bayot-Quiambao of Muntinlupa RTC despite violations on the evidence’s (a single fragmentation granade) chain of custody and questionable testimonies of the arresting officers.) the Camp Crame political prisoners said in a statement.
Signed under the said statement with Sarmiento are fellow political detainees Ramon Argente, Reynante Gamara and Eduardo Serrano, peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. All of the signatories, including Dionisio Almonte and Gloria Almonte—husband and wife who were arrested early January—started their solidarity fasting Saturday as their protest against the government’s disrespect for the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
The Camp Crame political prisoners expressed their gratitude to their families, friends, colleagues and legal advisers for fighting for Sarmiento’s rights as well as the rights of other political prisoners. "…At sa matiyaga at pursigidong pagpoprotesta’t paghahanap ng mga legal na remedyo sa kawalan ng katarungan na dinaranas ngayon ni Sarmiento at iba pang bilanggong pulitikal," (…And for the patient and persistent protests and seeking for legal remedies for the injustice suffered by Sarmiento and other political prisoners.) the statement said.
Sarmiento was transferred to the New Bilibid Prison’s Maximum Security Compund last January 15, during which Karapatan and other human rights organizations protested in front of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) for its "being an instrument of the Aquino administration in stalling the peace process."
The six political prisoners reitearted its call for the BS Aquino government to "Free all Political Prisoners!"