thedrifter
01-08-07, 10:22 AM
January 08, 2007
Lawyer asks for Marine’s return to Philippine custody
The Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino woman who won a rape case against a U.S. Marine asked the Philippine Supreme Court on Monday to order his return to Philippine custody, saying his detention at the U.S. Embassy violates the country’s constitution.
The woman’s lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, argued that an agreement between Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney, which authorized Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith’s transfer from a local jail to the U.S. Embassy last month, was invalid as, under the constitution, the U.S. cannot keep custody of people convicted in a Philippine court.
The Philippine and U.S. governments have agreed, however, that Smith’s transfer to the custody of the embassy, while he appeals his conviction and a 40-year prison sentence, is necessary because of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement.
It states that any accused U.S. personnel shall remain in American custody until completion of all judicial proceedings.
Ursua pointed to the Court of Appeals’ decision Jan. 2 — days after Smith was transferred to the U.S. Embassy — that custody should be with Philippine authorities. The appellate court, however, stopped short of ordering Smith’s return to Philippine custody, saying it cannot meddle in diplomacy.
Ursua urged the Supreme Court to strike down as unconstitutional an article of the VFA that grants the U.S. custody over U.S. personnel until all judicial proceedings are completed, saying it “infringes on the exclusive power of the Supreme Court to promulgate rules and procedure in all courts” and subjects the court’s authority over Smith “to the will of the United States government.”
Amid the controversy over Smith’s transfer, a Philippine official involved in overseeing the enforcement of the VFA said he plans to step down this week after publicly criticizing the government’s action.
“We are supposed to be a society of laws, so we have to abide by the rules of the court, by the separation of the powers of government and all that,” Zozimo Paredes told ABS-CBN television.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo backed the U.S. position and said Smith’s transfer to the embassy was necessary to avoid complications in U.S.-Philippine military relations.
Ellie
Lawyer asks for Marine’s return to Philippine custody
The Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino woman who won a rape case against a U.S. Marine asked the Philippine Supreme Court on Monday to order his return to Philippine custody, saying his detention at the U.S. Embassy violates the country’s constitution.
The woman’s lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, argued that an agreement between Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney, which authorized Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith’s transfer from a local jail to the U.S. Embassy last month, was invalid as, under the constitution, the U.S. cannot keep custody of people convicted in a Philippine court.
The Philippine and U.S. governments have agreed, however, that Smith’s transfer to the custody of the embassy, while he appeals his conviction and a 40-year prison sentence, is necessary because of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement.
It states that any accused U.S. personnel shall remain in American custody until completion of all judicial proceedings.
Ursua pointed to the Court of Appeals’ decision Jan. 2 — days after Smith was transferred to the U.S. Embassy — that custody should be with Philippine authorities. The appellate court, however, stopped short of ordering Smith’s return to Philippine custody, saying it cannot meddle in diplomacy.
Ursua urged the Supreme Court to strike down as unconstitutional an article of the VFA that grants the U.S. custody over U.S. personnel until all judicial proceedings are completed, saying it “infringes on the exclusive power of the Supreme Court to promulgate rules and procedure in all courts” and subjects the court’s authority over Smith “to the will of the United States government.”
Amid the controversy over Smith’s transfer, a Philippine official involved in overseeing the enforcement of the VFA said he plans to step down this week after publicly criticizing the government’s action.
“We are supposed to be a society of laws, so we have to abide by the rules of the court, by the separation of the powers of government and all that,” Zozimo Paredes told ABS-CBN television.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo backed the U.S. position and said Smith’s transfer to the embassy was necessary to avoid complications in U.S.-Philippine military relations.
Ellie