Global Courant
MANILA — Jailed Philippine human rights activist Leila de Lima was released on bail Wednesday on outstanding drug trafficking charges brought against her during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, her lawyer said.
De Lima, one of the most outspoken local critics of Duterte and his deadly drug war, has been incarcerated for more than six years on charges she says were fabricated to silence her.
“Sad to inform you that the court has denied Senator Leila’s application for bail,” her lawyer, Mr. Filibon Tacardon, said in a message to journalists.
The decision followed another court’s ruling on May 12 that acquitted the former senator and attorney general of a separate drug trafficking charge.
The mother-of-two is accused of taking money from inmates at the country’s largest prison in exchange for selling drugs while serving as justice minister under then-leader Benigno Aquino from 2010 to 2015.
She initially faced three charges. Two have been dismissed as the prosecution’s case falls apart, with multiple witnesses dying or recanting their testimony.
De Lima, 63, faces life in prison if convicted on the remaining charges.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office last June, there have been renewed calls from human rights groups, foreign diplomats and politicians for De Lima’s release.
While in prison, she has had several health problems, including a pelvic organ prolapse that required surgery.
In October 2022, she was briefly held hostage during an escape attempt by three detained militants.
Before her arrest on February 24, 2017, De Lima had spent a decade investigating “death squad” killings allegedly orchestrated by Mr. Duterte during his time as mayor of Davao City and in the early days of his presidency.
She led the probes while serving as the country’s human rights commissioner, and then from 2010 to 2015 as justice minister in the Aquino administration that preceded Duterte’s administration. AFP
