SC upholds protection for ‘Red lawyer’

The Supreme Court has upheld the special judicial protection granted by the Court of Appeals to a human rights lawyer who had accused the police and military of harassing her for providing legal services to political detainees.

In a May 11 decision, the Supreme Court’s First Division agreed that lawyer Maria Catherine Dannug-Salucon was able to justify her request for the writs of habeas data and amparo after state security agents labeled her as a “Red lawyer.”

The court said the killing of Salucon’s paralegal assistant, William Bugatti, in March 2014 was enough reason to believe her claim that her life was in danger. —Marlon Ramos