Former Philippine Senator Leila de Lima, a vocal critic of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, was acquitted Friday in the second drug-related charge against her after serving six years in jail.
De Lima, 63, was arrested in 2017 on drug-related charges after she launched a senate investigation into violations committed during Duterte’s “war on drugs,” which human rights groups said may amount to “crimes against humanity.”
This marks her second acquittal following the court’s dismissal of the first drug charge in 2021. The human rights defender has one remaining illegal drug trading charge for which she has requested bail.
“That’s already two cases down and one more to go,” she said. “I am of course happy that with this second acquittal in the three cases filed against me, my release from more than six years of persecution draws nearer.”
Amnesty International has urged Philippine authorities to drop the remaining charge against de Lima and expedite her bail application in this pending case so she can reunite with her family.
Montse Ferrer, interim deputy regional director for research at Amnesty, said de Lima’s acquittal was “long-overdue” given the six years of arbitrary detention and other human rights violations she has endured.
‘Politically-Motivated Charges’
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), has called for the immediate release of de Lima and urged Philippine authorities to drop all “politically-motivated” charges against her.While there was no evidence that Duterte ordered specific extrajudicial killings, his repeated calls for killings as part of the campaign could constitute acts instigating law enforcement to commit murder, HRW stated.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) began a full investigation into the campaign in September 2021, but it was later suspended after the Philippines pledged to undertake its own investigation. In June 2022, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan called for the ICC probe to restart.
“[The Philippines] cannot cooperate with the ICC, considering the very serious questions about their jurisdiction and about what we consider to be interference and practically attacks on the sovereignty of the republic,” Marcos said.
The ICC stated it rejected the Philippines’ appeal as there was a lack of “persuasive reasons” for the court to halt the investigation.