Laude kin doubt Pemberton in AFP camp

MANILA, Philippines — Is United States Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, accused in the killing of a Filipino transgender, really in Camp Aguinaldo?

The family of slain Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude, through its lawyers, formally asked permission from Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang to access the supposed detention room of Pemberton at the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board facility.

In a letter posted on lead counsel Harry Roque's website, lawyers Romel Regalado Bagares and Ethel Avisado, told Catapang that besides media reports, there are no other indications that Pemberton is held at the camp.

"Jennifer's family does not have any clear proof that [Pemberton] is in fact now being held at the MDB-SEB facility or that the person reported to have been placed in custody there is in fact the same PFC Pemberton who stands accused of killing the victim," the lawyers said.

Bagares and Avisado argued that the family of the victim has the right to actively search for legal remedies to the loss of a loved one.

They said they should be accorded a "host of entitlements" as victims of human rights violations, including an access to the status of the case.

The government should also treat them "with humanity and respect for their dignity," the lawyers said.

Representatives of the US, however, confirmed at the televised preliminary hearing that Pemberton is indeed under custody at Camp Aguinaldo.

The Laude family's formal request came after German national Marc Suselbeck, the fiancé of Laude, was stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from leaving the country.

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Suselbeck is accused of "misbehavior" at Camp Aguinaldo last Wednesday after he shoved a military guard and climb a fence to a restricted area in an attempt to get close to where Pemberton is believed to be detained.