DUTCH COURT CLOSES CRIMINAL PRE-INVESTIGATION OF JOMA SISON
MN - The Netherlands - November 21, 2007
On the basis of the Dutch Law on Criminal Procedure Article 237 which stipulates that the judge-commissioner ought to close the criminal pre-investigation if there is no ground for continuing it, the Judge-Commissioner in Court of Justice-The Hague closed its criminal pre-investigation case against Professor Jose Maria Sison.
In her decision, translated into English, Judge-Commissioner Mrs. Derijks, stated, among others...
Professor Jose Maria Sison
Photo: Munting Nayon archive
"Up to the highest instance [refers to Court of Appeals] it has been decided that from the current criminal dossier no serious evidence against the suspect can be drawn. The prosecutor has in no way provided information whether continuation of the criminal pre-investigation would be able to lead to another judgment on this point. This means that the judge- commissioner cannot but conclude that further investigation will not lead to another conclusion, so that there is no ground for the continuation of the criminal pre-investigation.
The circumstance that the judge-commissioner has already approved witnesses for the prosecution does not negate that. These witnesses have already made their presentations in the existing criminal dossier and their declarations have thus been taken into consideration in the judgment of the Court of Appeals."
The decision is dated November 21, 2007
Last August 28, Professor Sison was arrested on charges of "participation in or incitement to the commission of murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Gabasan Tabara, and/or Stephen Alamo, as well as the attempted murders of Ruel Murakami and/or Edmundo Ruiz y Martinez."
For 17 days, Joma was interrogated and placed in solitary confinement.
The Chamber of Judges in The Hague Court ordered his immediate release on September 13 on grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. Then the Court of Appeals in The Hague on October 3 upheld the decision of The Hague Court and rejected the appeal of the Public Prosecutor's Office.
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