A murder trial in Indonesia puts a spotlight on alleged police impunity

Associated death of three inmates in a failed escape attempt from a maximum security jail in Metro-Manila in 2005, when Abu Sayyaf militants refused to surrender

Special forces were involved in a failed escape attempt from the maximum security jail in Metro-Manila in 2005, when Abu Sayyaf Muslim militants led a siege. Police launched a major assault with assault rifles and tear-gas canisters after Abu Sayyaf commanders refused to surrender, killing 22 inmates.

National police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said former Sen. Leila de Lima was unhurt and taken to a hospital for a checkup following the brazen escape attempt and hostage-taking at the detention center for high-profile inmates at the main police camp in Metropolitan Manila.

One of the three inmates stabbed a police officer who was delivering breakfast after dawn in an open area, where inmates can exercise outdoors. Police said that a police officer in the sentry tower fired shots at two prisoners who refused to yield and killed two of them.

After the two militants were shot and killed, the third inmate ran to de Lima’s cell and took her hostage, blindfolding her and aiming a blunt object at her chest. The inmate demanded a helicopter for him to escape during a brief negotiation and later asked for water, giving a police officer a chance to shoot him while handing him water, Abalos said.

Susukan, who had been blamed for dozens of killings and beheadings of hostages, including foreign tourists, and other terrorist attacks was arrested two years ago in southern Davao city.

The other two inmates were suspected of belonging to a Muslim group that has carried out many attacks in the southern part of the country. They were arrested in 2019 in suburban Quezon city in the capital region, and were facing non-bailable charges like Susukan, police officials said.

The United States and the Philippines have both designated the group Abu Sayyaf and the one before it as a terrorist organization.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/09/1127723627/philippines-police-kill-3-inmates-jail-rampage-ex-senator-held-hostage

“I’m a fighter,” ex-human rights commission chief Risa Hontiveros told AP journalist in a prison compound

The police officer who was stabbed with an improvised knife was in serious condition at a hospital, Azurin said. Another inmate was injured in the rampage, police said.

De Lima told opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who visited her, that she feared she would be killed during the incident. I don’t know why I would die now when I might be freed soon. Hontiveros quoted de Lima as telling her. She was told to stay still.

De Lima has been detained since 2017 and has been facing a trial for drug charges she says were fabricated by former President Rodrigo Duterte and his officials in an attempt to muzzle her criticism of his deadly crackdown on illegal drugs, which has left thousands of mostly petty suspects dead and sparked an International Criminal Court investigation as a possible crime against humanity.

Duterte, who has insisted on de Lima’s guilt, stepped down from office on June 30 at the end of his turbulent six-year term and was succeeded by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of a former dictator who was ousted in a 1986 pro-democracy uprising.

Abalos went to de Lima and spoke to her about the chance of her being transferred to another facility, but she turned it down.

In a court-authorized interview with The Associated Press in the jail compound in March, de Lima appeared undaunted by her yearslong detention in the old facility, which is ringed by a maze of high concrete walls and topped by rusty barbed wire and sentry towers. Jail guards armed with assault rifles constantly roamed and kept watch.

“I’m a fighter,” the bespectacled former human rights commission chief and justice secretary told an AP journalist then. “It’s tough, but I can manage.”

A forensic investigation of the shooting death of a former Indonesian police general after a shootout with a bodyguard in an attack on a local leader

The trial of a former Indonesian police general accused of orchestrating the killing of his bodyguard started in Jakarta on Monday, in a case that has brought scrutiny to the country’s police force.

The case against Ferdy Sambo, an ex-inspector general and head of internal affairs at the national police, has gripped the public in a country where surveys show distrust of the police remains high.

The bodyguard, who was 27 years old, was shot and killed by another officer in the Jakarta residence on July 8.

The police version of events became clouded by claims from the bodyguards family that there were signs of torture on his body.

In court on Monday, a prosecutor alleged Sambo had ordered one of his officers to shoot Hutabarat, before putting a final bullet in the back of his head and firing his gun into the wall to create the appearance of a shootout.

Sambo’s lawyer declined to say how his client would plead but in a news conference last week said Sambo had ordered that Hutabarat be assaulted, not shot.

The police force, which ranked as the least trusted of Indonesia’s law enforcement bodies in a recent survey by pollster Indikator, is also facing pressure over its role in a deadly soccer stampede earlier this month that killed more than 130 people.

MANILA, Philippines — Gunmen in military uniforms fatally shot a governor and five civilians on Saturday while the provincial leader was meeting villagers at his home in the central Philippines, in the latest brazen assault on local politicians in the country, police said.

At least six men armed with assault rifles and wearing military- style camouflage and bulletproof vests walked out of three SUVs and opened fire on the governor, hitting him and at least five others in front of his home. The province has a history of violent political rivalries.

The wife of the deputy mayor of Aparri town, Nueva Vizcaya, died in the mid-morning attack on a Philippine governor killed shouting attack

She demanded justice and said her husband “did not deserve that kind of death. He was with his department heads serving on a Saturday.

A total of 10 suspects were seen fleeing the scene and later abandoned the SUVs, police said. A province wide search for the suspects was launched by police.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the mid-morning attack, which took place as impoverished villagers gathered in front of Degamo’s house to seek medical and other aid.

Authorities gathered a lot of information and now have a clear direction to proceed, Marcos said without giving more information. He said that they would find the mastermind and killers. If you surrender now it will be your best option.”

Degamo’s killing underscores that even local politicians are not immune from high-profile gun violence that has persisted despite the government’s pledge to combat it.

In a separate recent attack, unidentified men reportedly wearing police uniforms fired at the van of northern Aparri town Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda, killing him and five companions in northern Nueva Vizcaya province. The suspects remain at large.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161141561/philippines-governor-killed-shooting-attack

Marcos: Security and Security Concerns in the Light of the September 11th Reionization of Crime and Cosmic Intelligence

Crimes, decades-long Muslim and communist rebellions, and other security concerns are some of the major problems inherited by Marcos, who took office in June last year.