ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government prosecutors have recommended the dismissal of rebellion and genocide charges against 60 of the more than 200 persons charged in connection with the September 2013 siege of the city as they showed no signs of having fired weapons and no witnesses had linked them to the month-long violence.
Regional state prosecutor Peter Medalle said Wednesday that the recommendation to a court in Pasig City where the charges have been lodged, was reached after the panel of prosecutors, headed by Richard Fadullon, conducted a re-investigation of the charges against the accused.
A Government trooper rests amidst the ruins at the site of a three-week intense fighting between Government forces and Muslim rebels who have taken nearly 200 people hostages and used them as human shields, Saturday Sept. 28, 2013 in Zamboanga city, southern Philippines. AP FILE PHOTO
“Resulting from the investigation is the recommendation for the dismissal of accusations against 60 of the accused respondents, principally on the basis of the absence of gunpowder residue,” Medalle said.
He said also that no witness had testified that the 60 had taken part in the rampage by followers of Moro leader Nur Misuari.
The names of those cleared of charges were not immediately available but Commissioner Edilwasif Baddiri of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos said they were aware the charges against them would eventually be dismissed.
Of those detained and charged, 10 were minors and five were females, one of them pregnant, but it could not be immediately ascertained if they were among the 60.
“This move is a big step to freedom,” Baddiri said, adding that it was on Nov. 10 when they knew the 60 accused would be cleared.
A total of 278 individuals were arrested and detained in connection with the siege, in which more than more than 100 were killed. They were later charged, along with Misuari and other Moro National Liberation Front leaders, with murder and crimes against humanity.
With the dropping of the charges against 60 of the accused, the number of alleged MNLF fighters to go on trial will be reduced to 218, Baddiri said.