DOJ studying transfer of Jad Dera to another facility after escapade and privilege controversy

Jose Adrian Dera FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) is studying the possibility of transferring controversial detainee Jad Dera from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to another facility.

“As of right now, we are trying to check the landscape if it is possible to transfer Jad Dera to a different detention facility,” DOJ spokesperson Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said Monday.

Dera was caught last week managing to sneak out of detention with NBI security escorts.

The NBI already filed a complaint against him and his escorts, alleging that he was spotted at a restaurant in Makati accompanied by a woman.

But his lawyers denied the allegation saying Dera went out of detention with permission due to a medical emergency.

His lawyers, however, admitted that Dera had been out of detention several times without a court order for an immediate medical checkup.

“Hindi na puwede dun si Jad Dera dahil nalaman nga natin based on the events that happened last week na marami siyang privileges sa detention, sa detention center ng NBI, na hindi naman pwedeng ganon ang trato sa isang detainee,” he added.

(Jad Dera cannot go there anymore because we found out, based on the events that happened last week, that he had many privileges in the NBI detention center, which is not an acceptable treatment for a detainee.)

Clavano said transferring Dera to another detention facility would also prevent familiarity between the detainee and the jailers.

Aside from being able to come and go, Dera, who is a co-accused of detained former senator Leila de Lima in her drug case before the Muntinlupa City regional trial court, also received other privileges in NBI detention such as food and sleeping conditions.

“Tulad ng pagkain at sleeping conditions nalaman natin na lahat pala ito ay nababayaran ng detainee na si Jad Dera,” Clavano said.

(Privileges such as food and sleeping conditions. We got to know that detainee Jad Dera was able to pay for all these.)

“We would like to curtail this and stop this practice by moving him to another detention center,” he added.

Clavano said the investigation on Dera’s escapade and whether there are other NBI officials involved is still ongoing.

He added the DOJ is also looking into whether other NBI detainees enjoyed similar privileges.

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JPV