MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Leila de Lima on Monday asserted her innocence as she marked her third year in detention after three counts of drug-related charges
were held against her.
The senator wrote this in a handwritten release from her cell at Camp
Crame, which she releases daily. Since her arrest on this date in 2017, the opposition senator's case is still pending before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.
Related Stories
She is facing charges of conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading, which the senator to this day
asserts were
trumped-up and politically motivated, owing to her staunch opposition of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In January, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, whose department filed the charges against her in 2017, said that much of the delay was De Lima's own doing
due to her continued questioning.
He said that De Lima, who was once chief of the Department of Justice herself, brought her delays on herself
due to her continued questioning of the case.
"Let me say it again: I am innocent of the trumped-up drug charges against me. I may not be a perfect person, but I have never betrayed my duty as a public servant," the senator said.
"And if anyone would take a serious look at the details of my cases, including the ludicrous perjured testimonies of the so-called witnesses against me - they will see that I am merely a victim of political persecution."
TODAY, Monday, Feb 24 marks the third anniversary of the
politically-motivated imprisonment of #Philippines @SenLeiladeLima
, a victim of a gross injustice directed by Prez #Duterte and his minions. #FreeLeilaNow https://t.co/KuKXo98nhu pic
— Phelim Kine.twitter.com/
x8VAoHIkce
?? (@PhelimKine) February 24, 2020
De Lima continues to assert her innocence in the case, saying that the charges held against her were
trumped-up and politically motivated. The opposition senator was, and continues to be, one of the chief executive's more vocal critics.
"Duterte and his merry band of trolls may continue their vile narrative towards me, but the country and the world are seeing through the smoke and mirrors regarding my situation," she added.
When she sat as chair of the Commission on Human Rights, De Lima also directed investigation on then-Davao Mayor Duterte's alleged human rights violations linked to the city's infamous "Davao Death Squad."
It was supposedly during her stint as Justice secretary herself that De Lima
was supposedly involved in coddling and protecting ranking members of the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison.
To date, De Lima largely enjoys the support of the international community. Towards the end of 2019, US President Donald Trump signed the country's 2020 budget bill, which included a provision banning those involved in the arrest of De Lima from entering the country. Along with this came a US Senate resolution calling for travel restrictions and financial sanctions to
be imposed on the senator's arrestors.
READ: 2020 US budget includes ban on people behind 'wrongful imprisonment' of De Lima
Former Human Rights Watch deputy Philem Kine voiced his support for the senator in a tweet on Monday
as well, calling her a victim of gross injustice.
"Today marks the third anniversary of the
politically-motivated imprisonment of [the] Philippines' Sen. Leila de Lima, a victim of a gross injustice directed by Prez #Duterte and his minions. #FreeLeilaNow," he wrote.