SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ? President Benigno Aquino III Friday said that detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV may have been a victim of injustice and that he had ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to review the cases filed against the former Navy officer.

Speaking to reporters after opening a police training center in Subic Bay, Mr. Aquino said the state prosecutors could have erred in filing a case of coup d?etat against Trillanes.

Trillanes, who won a Senate seat in 2007 despite being incarcerated at Camp Crame, supported the candidacy of Sen. Manuel Villar, Mr. Aquino?s fiercest rival, in the May 10 automated elections.

Lawyer Reynaldo Robles, Trillanes? chief of staff, said that with Mr. Aquino?s statement, the ball was now in the hands of the justice department or state prosecutors.

Interviewed by phone, Robles said he expected the prosecutors to file a motion withdrawing the case involving the Oakwood incident ?in the light of its political nature and if they found out that it should not have been filed in the first place.?

?It?s in their hands actually,? said Robles.

?(With the) administration not willing to prosecute it, I guess the court, in effect, can consider and act on the motion,? the lawyer said.

He stressed that although it was up to the discretion of the court, ?it?s difficult? to continue trying the case if the prosecutors were no longer interested in pursuing it.

Trillanes, who has been in detention for seven years, is facing a coup charge for his involvement in the takeover by soldiers of the Oakwood apartments in Makati City in July 2003.

He was also slapped with a separate rebellion charge when he and other alleged mutineers walked out of their Makati trial and occupied portions of the Peninsula Manila hotel in November 2007.

?My opinion is, and this is just my individual opinion, the (prosecutor) should not have let that (coup) case prosper,? the President said in a mix of English and Filipino.

He pointed out that the law clearly states that a coup offense must be committed through a swift, forcible strike.

?Senator Trillanes first got incarcerated by virtue of the charge of committing a coup d?etat or participating in a coup d?etat,? Mr. Aquino said. ?However, when you review the Revised Penal Code, there?s a provision that says how a coup d?etat is committed. It says swift, violent attack.?

Mr. Aquino said that ?with respect to coup d?etat, the requirements are specific. The requirements for a coup d?etat were lacking, so it seemed there was injustice,? he added.

Thorough review

Apparently ?because of [the] injustice? of being charged with coup d?etat over the Oakwood incident, Trillanes walked out of his trial at a Makati court.

?The second incident, that would not have happened if there was justice in the first case,? the President said.

?So I?ve asked her (De Lima) to review it thoroughly,? he added.

Then a Navy lieutenant senior grade, Trillanes and about 100 rebel soldiers took control of the Oakwood apartments and denounced what they claimed was patent corruption in the military.

The soldiers also accused President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of inaction over the supposed irregularities committed by senior military officers.

Example of injustice

Robles also noted that before his election as President, Mr. Aquino cited Trillanes? case as an example of ?injustice under the Arroyo administration.?

?Of course we?ve always pointed out that the charges should have not been filed. The Oakwood incident could have been a lot of things but not a coup,? Robles said. ?We?re hoping that they will withdraw the case.?

Trillanes has already filed a motion in the Makati Regional Trial Court to allow him to attend the opening of the Congress? session on July 26. With a report from TJ Burgonio