(Eagle News)–Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, Feb. 24, slammed anew the continued detention of Senator Leila de Lima for drug charges.
“That a Senator of the Republic, an outspoken critic of the administration, and a relentless crusader against extrajudicial killings, can languish in detention for two years on drug charges, despite the glaring absence of physical evidence, and on the mere say-so of convicted drug dealers currently serving prison sentences in the national penitentiary, is a sad commentary of the state of our justice system today,” Robredo said in a statement posted on her Facebook account on the day De Lima marks her second year in detention.
De Lima was charged in connection with her alleged role in the illegal drug trading in the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary, but the opposition has insisted these were trumped-up charges.
According to Robredo, both De Lima and Filipinos “have fallen victim to a legal system that is, at times, seemingly no longer governed by firm rules and impartial magistrates, but one that appears alarmingly susceptible to political and economic influence.”
She urged De Lima to “stay strong.”
“They may do all in their power to keep you in prison, but your indomitable spirit shall ever be free,” Robredo said.
