Saturday, April 01, 2006

Beltran supporters slam DOJ's "double standards of justice"

NEWS RELEASE
March 30, 2006

Beltran supporters slam DOJ's "double standards of justice", say Velasco acts more like a Palace spokesperson than a dispenser of justice

Supporters of illegally-detained Party List Congressman Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran today slammed public statements by Department of Justice (DoJ) Prosecutor Emanuel Velasco on the DOJ's refusal to release Beltran, saying that the State Prosecutor was "acting more like a Palace lackey than a sworn dispenser of justice".

Senior State Prosecutor Emanuel Velasco was quoted over DZRJ radio station earlier this morning, saying that the DOJ would deny the Motion to Release Party List Congressman Crispin Beltran on the principle of parliamentary immunity, as this would set an unfair precedent for other pending sedition and rebellion cases.

"It's absolutely absurd to hear of how Prosecutor Velasco is overly apprehensive about setting a fair precedent, when it is he and the DoJ who have been unfair and unjust in their rabid refusal to acknowledge the violations of human and Constitutional rights evident in the PNP's disrespect for Cong. Beltran's parliamentary immunity from arrest and illegal detention," Free Ka Bel Movement (FKBM) Spokesperson Dennis Maga said.

"Was Velasco not the same state prosecutor who refused to give Ka Bel and his legal counsel Atty. Romeo Capulong ample time to go over the rebellion charges filed against him, during the deceitful February 27 inquest at the CIDG headquarters?" Maga said.

"The DOJ is obviously intent keeping Ka Bel, a 73-year old solon, unjustly behind bars under PNP custody. Velasco and his ilk are already pre-judging Cong. Beltran as guilty beyond reasonable doubt, when in fact he has not been convicted of any criminal or civil case," Maga said.

"Prosecutor Velasco and Sec. Gonzales do not belong the DOJ. They should shed off all the pretense of being state dispensers of justice, and should be reappointed alongside Sec. Mike Defensor and Sec. Ignacio Bunye as lapdogs in the Palace," Maga said.

"Better yet, Velasco should be disbarred for violating basic standards of justice. He is bastardizing the Philippine legal system by his very title as an attorney," Maga said. ###

Reference: Dennis Maga, FKBM Spokesperson (0927-3996227)

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