Ombudsman Drops Charges Versus Cops Involved In “Secret Jail Case”
OMBUDSMAN DROPS CHARGES ON COPS – Back on April 27, 2017, the Commission on Human Rights conducted a raid at a police station in Tondo.
Initially, the CHR received reports that police officers were illegally holding individuals and only releasing them when a ransom payment has been made. During the raid, the detainees were found in a cramped jail cell behind a bookshelf at the Raxabago Police Station 1.
According to CHR reports, there were no records of arrests and inquest proceedings for the individuals detained in the cell. Furthermore, the report stated that the cops held them inside the cramped cell for a week without them notifying their family or legal counsel.
But, according to the Ombudsman, the CHR had since failed to provide sufficient evidence that could condemn the officers linked to the “secret jail”. Based on an article from Manila Bulletin, the office of the Ombudsman said:
Since the burden of proof lies with the CHR, it was incumbent upon said office to prove that there was another available confinement area which is better than the one where said detainees were locked up, but that respondents intentionally and maliciously refused to accord them such
After years of deliberation, the Ombudsman decided that the CHR failed to provide probable cause versus the policemen for the “crimes of Arbitrary Detention and Delay in the Delivery of Detained Persons to the Proper Judicial Authority”.
Furthermore, the OMB stated that there was no proof that the detained individuals were held beyond the period allowed by law. Additionally, for reports of maltreatment of the detainees, robbery, and extortion, the ombudsman said the CHR failed to provide evidence that would could be supported by independent, impartial, and credible evidence.
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