Justice can be really swift when it matters.
The Department of Justice on Thursday dismissed a criminal case against Mujiv Hataman, the front-runner in the appointments race for the top post at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and a friend of President Benigno Aquino III and reportedly his top choice for the post.
The case concerned Hataman’s alleged role in the deadly bombing at the Batasan Complex in November 2007 that killed the then Basilan Representative Wahab Akbar and several others.
The resolution approving the dismissal of the case came just a day after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed that Hataman had a pending case in her department.
No reversible error
According to the resolution approved by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, state prosecutors had found “no reversible error” in the earlier resolution dismissing the complaint against Hataman and others for the complex crime of multiple murder and frustrated murder.
The resolution struck down the petition for review of the earlier resolution clearing Hataman which was filed by Basilan Governor Jum Akbar, the widow of the slain Wahab Akbar, which had been pending with the DOJ since May 5, 2008.
Jum Akbar had assailed Feb. 22, 2008, resolution signed by then Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, dismissing the complaint against Hataman, his brother Hadjiman Hataman and a Julham Kunam for insufficient evidence.
Hataman Thursday said he was surprised at the report that he had a pending criminal case in connection with the Batasan blast.
‘No probable cause’
“We reviewed the February 2008 resolution of the special panel of the DOJ, and it was clear to us that there was no probable cause to indict me in court. That case has been pending for four years and my lawyer has yet to get his copy of a motion for reconsideration of the DOJ panel ruling,” he said.
Hataman, a former party-list House member representing the Anak Mindanao, was coy about speculations that he was the first choice of Mr. Aquino as ARMM officer in charge.
In a phone interview, Hataman admitted that he became a close friend of the President when they both served in Congress. But he said the question of the ARMM governorship did not figure in any of their discussions.
“He never talked to me about that so I don’t know where all this talk of being the front-runner for the post is coming from,” said Hataman.
The two bonded during two consecutive terms in Congress where they were in the opposition against the Arroyo administration.
No fresh evidence
“He was the chair of the House committee on human rights and we became close during one of those investigations in Basilan,” said Hataman.
In Cotabato City, Rudyard Avila, a Hataman lawyer, said the DOJ’s decision not to indict his client for the Batasan blast may have been based on the fact that Jum Akbar had not submitted fresh evidence.
Even De Lima’s predecessors at the justice department had not filed a case against Hataman because they could not establish probable cause, Avila said.
He said Hataman believes the allegations were being refloated because of politics as these were made as soon as reports came out that he was the “favorite” of Mr. Aquino for ARMM OIC. With Nash Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao
Originally posted at 02:35 pm | Thursday, October 20, 2011