Satur: Weak gov’t case ensured my liberty; I am vindicated

Bayan Muna Representative Satur C. Ocampo today walks out of his detention cell, the Manila Police District headquarters, after the Supreme Court granted his petition for release upon payment of a P100,000 cash bond.

“I went to the Supreme Court with clean hands and with a clear conscience. I am now vindicated,” said Ocampo, upon being informed of the court’s ruling.

According to Ocampo, “that the court granted me bail for a non-bailable offense such as multiple murder shows that the government’s case against me is fatally defective and seriously weak.”

Ocampo and his lead counsel, Atty. Romeo Capulong, have said that the solon will post bail to ensure his release within the day.
Murder is a capital offense in the Philippines. Suspected murderers may not post bail when the evidence of guilt is strong.

Ocampo was arrested on March 16 at the Supreme Court premises minutes after filing a petition for certiorari seeking to nullify the multiple murder charge and to quash the arrest warrant against him.
Ocampo also gave this advice to those who persecute him: “My tormentors and detractors should examine their conscience especially this Holy Week.”

“I can now reassume my duties as president and first nominee of Bayan Muna, rejoin the campaign trail, and bring my party to victory in the May 14 elections,” said Ocampo.

Upon leaving the MPD, Ocampo will lead a Bayan Muna motorcade to Manila’s downtown district of Quiapo before proceeding to the party’s headquarters for a celebration with party officers, members, and supporters.
Reacting to the military’s press conference this morning, Ocampo said: “The Armed Forces of the Philippines should stop exploiting the grief of purge victims and their families in their plot to demonize me and Bayan Muna.”

Now on his second term as congressman, Ocampo is a deputy minority leader in the House of Representatives and president of Bayan Muna, the country’s most popular partylist organization. ###

Excerpt from http://www.bayanmuna.net/

MANY THANKS FOR ALL WHO SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FREEDOM OF KA SATUR.

TULOY AND LABAN!

Dear Friends,

Please visit
http://freesatur.bayanmuna.net/
and
http://www.petitiononline.com/SaturO/petition.html

These online petitions are in support for the Freedom of Congressman Satur Ocampo. Please sign-up, and refer the site to your contacts.For every sign-up, the petition site will automatically send a copy of the petition to all the Philippine government authorities listed in the petition. The petitioner will be furnished a copy of the petition. Many Thanks for your support and Solidarity.

Solidarity for Ka Satur - Switzerland
http://solidarityforsaturswitzerland.blogspot.com/

(Parliamentarian Satur OCAMPO infront of the The House of Parliaments - headquarter of Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland)

Die Demo und die Hinrichtungen

Scanned Clippings on the news about Ka Satur which appeared in the free evening newspaper HEUTE for the GERMAN-SPEAKING part ofSwitzerland. So people know what is really happening in thePhilippines.

OPEN LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM SWISS PARLIAMENTARIANS

Swiss Member of Parliament signed the Open Letter of Support for the Freedom of Congressman Satur OCAMPO

(initial list)
1. Maria Roth-Bernasconi
2. Andre Daguet
3. Carlo Sommaruga
4. Didier Berberat
5. Fabio Pedrina
6. Franco Cavalli
7. Franziska Teuscher - from the Green Party
8. Géraldine Savary
9. Hans Widmer
10. Jacqueline Fehr
11. Jean-Noél Rey
12. Liliane Pasquier Maury
13. Margret Kiener Nellen
14. Marlyse Dormond Béguelin
15. Pierre Salvi
16. Roger Nordmann
17. Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold
18. Stéphane Rossini
19. Susanne Leutenegger Oberholzer
20. Ursula Wyss
21. Valérie Garbani
22. Vreni Hubmann

Violating Rep. Satur Ocampo's right to due process

Violating Rep. Satur Ocampo's right to due process and disregardingthe Supreme Court's order to maintain the status quo until the March23 oral argument over Satur's petition, Philippine police woke up Rep.Satur and his wife at 3 a.m. this morning (March19), informing Satur that hewould be brought to Leyte, where fabricated murder charges were filedagainst him.

At around 4:30 a.m., the police dragged Satur out of the Manila PoliceDistrict and into their van bound for the domestic airport.As of this moment, Rep. Satur is at the Philippine National Policehangar in the airport awaiting his illegal transfer to Leyte. Policesay he would be boarding a commercial flight, but Satur and his wife,Carolina Malay, doubt this. In separate statements, police officialssaid Satur would be transfered via helicopter.Rep. Satur and his family fears for his safety, as there is noguarantee that he would not be harmed on the trip going to Leyte, orin his awaiting detention in the far flung town of the province.

Friends of Ka Satur in Switzerland --- FREE KA SATUR

We support the "FREEDOM OF KA SATUR, KA BEL and other political prisoners. --- Friends of Ka Satur in Switzerland -

We launched this BLOG Site as requested byMigrant Filipinos, friends and people whom Ka Satur has touched their lives during his several visits in Geneva, Switzerland.

We stand for JUSTICE. Defend BAYAN MUNA from Fraud, Violence and Repression!

------

The Philippine National Police arrested Bayan Muna (People First Party) Representative Satur Ocampo on 16 March 2007 while he was filing a Petition for Certiorari before the Supreme Court seeking to quash the baseless criminal complaint against him filed by government prosecutors. The Supreme Court ordered a Hearing before the Court on March 23 on his petition and his prayer to hold in abeyance the execution of the warrant of arrest.

Rep. Satur’s lawyers contend that the Supreme Court intended that a hearing on the issue must first be heard before the warrant is executed in order not to render the March 23 hearing moot. They argue that there is no need to arrest Satur before the March 23 hearing especially since Rep. Satur, who is currently campaigning for reelection, has publicly stated that he will face the charges against him and will not evade arrest. The government, however, insisted on arresting Satur despite the Supreme Court order for a Hearing and has confined him at the Manila Police Headquarters. The government is also threatening to immediately transfer him to the hinterlands of Leyte, where the prosecutors chose to file the case, hundreds of miles from Manila. Satur’s lawyers argue that he could not be transferred absent an order from the Supreme Court now that the court has taken cognizance of his petition.

Based on this unjust decision, Rep. Satur will be physically restrained from fulfilling his function as a member of Congress and his role as the lead campaigner of his party Bayan Muna, which continues to top the poll surveys getting the support of 17% of the voters.

The case is baseless and, therefore, pure harassment because it charges Satur with murder committed 22 years ago when he was in prison under Marcos’ martial law regime. Rep. Satur, who was one of the main authors of the law prohibiting death penalty in the Philippines, could not have possibly committed the crimes imputed on him.

The Philippines has been beset with political instability following rising protest against Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on charges of corruption, electoral fraud and human rights violations. Satur and Bayan Muna actively campaigned for the impeachment of Pres. Arroyo on these charges, particularly the escalating political killings against members of Bayan Muna and other opposition parties, the media, church workers and human rights activists. More than 838 people have died, 130 of them members of Bayan Muna, since Pres. Arroyo came to power in 2001.

FREE SATUR OCAMPO!
FREE CRISPIN 'ka bel' BELTRAN

END POLITICAL REPRESSION!