Leila de Lima, a former Philippine senator who was detained for six years after criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, was cleared Monday of the last of the charges for which authorities held her.
Ms. de Lima was a serving senator when she was detained in 2017 accused of accepting bribes from drug traffickers. She was the public face of the opposition to a bloody campaign that left thousands dead.
His detention sent a stark warning to those who dared to question Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs, which began shortly after he took office in 2016.
Ms. de Lima has consistently maintained that the accusations were false and part of an effort to silence her. The prosecution presented 26 prosecution witnesses, according to court documents. In November 2023, she was released on bail after five witnesses recanted in the case. She had then already been acquitted of two of the three charges against her.
On Monday, a court in Muntinlupa City acquitted her of the latest charge. In response to a motion filed by Ms. de Lima that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to convict her, the court ruled that the prosecution could not prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Cheerful supporters greeted her as she left the court after the ruling. Many of them wore yellow, the color of the Liberal Party which she represented in the Senate since 2016.
“Today I got vindication,” Ms. de Lima said in an interview. “But full vindication and true justice will only come when those responsible for my persecution have answered for the wrongs they have inflicted on me and my honor.”
Carlos Conde, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the dismissal of the latest charge against Ms. de Lima and called on the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cooperate with the International Criminal Courtwhich sought to investigate Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.
“President Marcos should use this opportunity to demonstrate to the world that he is serious about defending human rights, following the catastrophic abuses perpetrated under his predecessor and the continuing lack of accountability,” he said. he declared.
