A US Senate panel has approved a resolution urging the Philippine government to free detained Senator Leila de Lima and drop all charges against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.
“For over 1,000 days now, has languished in prison. Her crime: standing for human rights and good governance in the Philippines,” Markey said over Twitter on Thursday.
The resolution, which was passed by the US Senate’s foreign relations committee, condemned the Philippine government “for its continued detention”It further condemned the “harassment, arrest, and unjustified judicial proceedings against the media and journalists, in particular, the proceeding against Rappler and Maria Ressa.”The resolution said De Lima had been detained “solely on account of her political views and the legitimate exercise of her freedom of expression.
De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been in detention inside Camp Crame – headquarters of the Philippine National Police – since February 2017 on drug charges, which the lady senator has repeatedly denied and branded as “trumped-up.” Aside from the dropping of charges against the senator, the resolution also called on the Philippine government to “remove restrictions on her personal and work conditions, and allow her to fully discharge her legislative mandate, especially as Chair of the Committee on Social Justice.
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