Laude's German fiancé apologizes to Pinoy marine

MANILA, Philippines - The German fiancé of slain transgender Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude has apologized for shoving the Filipino soldier who tried to stop him from going near the building inside Camp Aguinaldo where US Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton is being held.

Lawyer Harry Roque, legal counsel of the Laude family, said Marc Sueselbeck was emotional and wanted to confront Pemberton at that time when they went to the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters.

"Our client Mr. Sueselbeck – while he regrets having been overtaken by emotion when he saw the US marines there mocking Ms. Laude – is ready to face the consequences of what he did," Roque said in a statement on Thursday.

Roque maintained that the German did not violate any military regulation when he tried to climb the fence surrounding the facility where Pemberton is detained.

"That law applies to a person "who, without express or implied permission or authority of the base commander or his duly authorized representatives, shall re-enter or is found within any military base after having been removed there from and ordered not to re-enter by the base commander or his duly authorized representative."

"In Mr. Suselbeck's case, he, along with members of the Laude family, was allowed into the premises of Camp Aguinaldo, where the MDB-SEB facility -- the detention area for PFC Pemberton -- is located. Subsequently, he and Marilou Laude, a sister of the murder victim, entered the premises of the MDB-SEB in an angry bid to confront PFC Pemberton.

"But PD 1227 applies only to a person who, having been removed from a Philippine military facility re-enters it or is found there yet again without proper permission from the base commander," Roque added.

Sueselbeck is facing deportation because of the incident.