Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Atty. Lorna Kapunan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Saturday said she had ordered government prosecutors to ask the Makati City Regional Trial Court to cite lawyer Lorna Kapunan in contempt after she showed members of the media alleged videotaped evidence that would clear her client, suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles, from an illegal detention charge.
“I instructed the handling prosecutors, through Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, to formally ask the Makati RTC to cite attorney Kapunan in contempt of court for arguing their case and presenting alleged evidence before the media while the bail hearings were yet ongoing,” De Lima said in a text message.
“Her (Kapunan’s) actuations (on Friday), right after coming out of the courtroom during a break are clearly violative of the sub judice rule,” De Lima added.
During the hearing, Kapunan tried to present the videotape to the court in support of the bail application of Napoles but Judge Elmo Alameda refused to accept it because the footage had not been authenticated.
Napoles and her brother, Reynald Lim were both charged by the Department of Justice with illegally detaining Benhur Luy, one of the whistle-blowers in the pork barrel scam, for three months. The RTC issued the warrants of arrest against the siblings on Aug. 14.
Napoles, who surrendered on Aug. 28, refused to enter a plea when arraigned last Monday. Kapunan filed a motion asking the court to allow her to post bail. Lim is still at large.
According to Kapunan, the security camera footage showed Luy freely following Lim while both were walking from the basement parking garage to Lim’s South Garden unit at the Pacific Plaza Towers in Bonifacio Global City.
The footage, supposedly taken on the eve of the rescue of Luy by National Bureau of Investigation agents, would supposedly disprove the prosecutors’ claim that Luy was being detained or that he needed rescue.
“It can be seen that they (Lim and Luy) are together. Benhur was not handcuffed, Lim had no firearm. Benhur could have easily run to the elevator. He was not being restrained,” Kapunan said. Jerome Aning