Philippines: HRD arrested and detained
Event- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 22, 2009
- Event Description
On 13 January 2012, Mr. Temogen Sahipa Tulawie was arrested in Davao City, Philippines. He appeared before the Regional Trial Court of Davao City on 16 January 2012 under the accusation of being involved in a bombing incident in the municipality of Patikul, Sulu on 13 May 2009 that injured 12 persons including Governor Abdusakur Tan of Sulu. Charges of multiple frustrated murder and attempted murder, which he strongly denies, had been filed against Temogen Tulawie on 22 July 2009. Prior to his arrest, he was planning to voluntarily turn himself in after the Supreme Court's order on 13 June 2011 to transfer the venue of his trial from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Sulu to any Court due to indications actual and imminent threat to Mr. Tulawie's life and his family, as well as the his witnesses which can then lead to miscarriage of justice. However, since his arrest, police had attempted to transfer him back to Sulu, which would pose a threat to his and his family's security and safety. Mr. Tulawie believes that he will not be afforded with impartiality if his case will be tried in Sulu. Therefore, he filed a petition to the Supreme Court for a transfer of venue of the hearings to the RTC in Davao City. On 13 June 2011, the Supreme Court granted his petition for transfer of venue. However, until today the RTC in Sulu has not forwarded the records to the Executive Judge of the RTC in Davao City. When Mr. Tulawie appeared before the RTC Davao City on 16 January 2012, the judge could not commit to hold the hearing in Davao City as Mr. Tulawie's case files were not yet transferred from Sulu RTC, compromising Mr. Tulawie's safety. As long as the case files are not transferred, Mr. Tulawie's trial cannot proceed in Davao City. This stands as a clear violation of his constitutional right for a fair and speedy trial. On 17 January 2012, despite the Supreme Court's order, the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) Davao and the Military Intelligence Group Region 9 secretly transported Mr. Tulawie back to Sulu via Zamboanga City. This transfer was based the argument that because of the motion for reconsideration filed by the lawyers of Governor Abdusakur Tan the Supreme Court order was not final and executory. Hence, they police succeeded in boarding Mr. Tualwie on a commercial flight bound for Zamboanga City. Fortunately, the Supreme Court Administrator issued an order instructing the Executive Judge of Zamboanga to take custody of Mr. Tulawie and return him immediately to Davao City as per instruction of the Supreme Court's resolution to transfer the venue of the case to Davao City. Mr. Tulawie is a prominent Tausug (an indigenous group in Mindanao) human rights defender in Sulu. His work mainly involves defending the rights of Muslim communities affected by military operations in the province of Sulu. On 5 October 2009, a warrant of arrest was issued against Mr. Tulawie for his alleged involvement as the mastermind of a bombing incident on 13 May 2009. These charges are based on the extra-judicial confessions of Mr. Muammar Askali and Mr. Juhan Alihuddin who allegedly triggered the bomb under orders from Mr. Tulawie. However, confessions made by Mr. Askali and Mr. Alihuddin were taken without the presence of a counsel and that they were forced to sign the confession by the police. A counsel was merely provided by the investigation personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) after Mr. Alihuddin had already signed the prepared confession. On 29 June 2009, Mr. Alihuddin executed a counter-affidavit denying the voluntariness of the earlier confession. On 3 August 2012, Temogen Tulawie pleaded not guilty after he was read the charges against him at Branch 11. The Private Prosecutor representing Governor Abdusakur Tan, the complainant, requested preparation time of two months. The presiding magistrate, Judge Europa, denied this request and all parties agreed to the judge's suggestion that the bail hearing take place on 19, 20 and 21 September. The prosecution stated that two witnesses for the prosecution will be presented on each day of the three-day hearing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Event Location
Latitude: 7.190708
Longitude: 125.455341
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 13 January 2012, Mr. Temogen Sahipa Tulawie was arrested in Davao City, Philippines for allegedly masterminding the bombing incident on 13 May 2009 that injured 12 persons including Governor Abdusakur Tan of Sulu. Prior to his arrest, he was planning to voluntarily turn himself in after the Supreme Court's order on 13 June 2011 to transfer the venue of his trial from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Sulu to any Court due to indications actual and imminent threat to Mr. Tulawie's life and his family, as well as the his witnesses which can then lead to miscarriage of justice. However, since his arrest, attempts have been taken by the police to transfer him back to Sulu, thus, posing threat to his and his family's security and safety. Mr. Tulawie is a prominent Tausug (an indigenous group in Mindanao) human rights defender in Sulu. His work mainly involves defending the rights of Muslim communities affected by military operations in the province of Sulu. On 5 October 2009, a warrant of arrest was issued against Mr. Tulawie for his alleged involvement as the mastermind of a bombing incident on 13 May 2009 that injured 12 persons including Governor Abdusakur Tan of Sulu. These charges are based on the extra-judicial confessions of Mr. Muammar Askali and Mr. Juhan Alihuddin who allegedly triggered the bomb under orders from Mr. Tulawie. However, FORUM-ASIA was informed that the confessions made by Mr. Askali and Mr. Alihuddin were taken without the presence of a counsel and that they were forced to sign the confession by the police. A counsel was merely provided by the investigation personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) after Mr. Alihuddin had already signed the prepared confession. On 29 June 2009, Mr. Alihuddin executed a counter-affidavit denying the voluntariness of the earlier confession. Mr. Tulawie believes that he will not be afforded with impartiality if his case will be tried in Sulu. Therefore, he filed a petition to the Supreme Court for a transfer of venue of the hearings to the RTC in Davao City. On 13 June 2011, the Supreme Court granted his petition for transfer of venue. However, until today the RTC in Sulu has not forwarded the records to the Executive Judge of the RTC in Davao City. When Mr. Tulawieappeared before the RTC Davao City on 16 January 2012, the judge could not commit to hold the hearing in Davao City as Mr. Tulawie's case files were not yet transferred from Sulu RTC, compromising Mr. Tulawie's safety. As long as the case files are not transferred, Mr. Tulawie's trial cannot proceed in Davao City. This stands as a clear violation of his constitutional right for a fair and speedy trial.[1] On 17 January 2012, despite the Supreme Court's order, the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) Davao and the Military Intelligence Group Region 9 secretly transported Mr. Tulawie back to Sulu via Zamboanga City. This transfer was based the argument that because of the motion for reconsideration filed by the lawyers of Governor Abdusakur Tan the Supreme Court order was not final and executory. Hence, they police succeeded in boarding Mr. Tualwie on a commercial flight bound for Zamboanga City. Fortunately, the Supreme Court Administrator issued an order instructing the Executive Judge of Zamboanga to take custody of Mr. Tulawie and return him immediately to Davao City as per instruction of the Supreme Court's resolution to transfer the venue of the case to Davao City. On 3 August 2012, Temogen Tulawie pleaded not guilty after he was read the charges against him at Branch 11. The Private Prosecutor representing Governor Abdusakur Tan, the complainant, requested preparation time of two months. The presiding magistrate, Judge Europa, denied this request and all parties agreed to the judge's suggestion that the bail hearing take place on 19, 20 and 21 September. The prosecution stated that two witnesses for the prosecution will be presented on each day of the three-day hearing.