Joma Sison loses damages claim case in European Court

LUXEMBOURG - The European Court of Justice rejected a claim for damages Wednesday filed by exiled onetime leader of the Maoist NPA guerrilla movement in the Philippines, Jose Maria Sison. Sison, now 72 and who lives in exile in the Netherlands, claimed compensation after his assets were frozen on allegations of terrorism that were later dropped. In 2009, the court had ordered Sison be struck off a European Union terrorist blacklist as he had not been found guilty by a court, leading the activist and poet to file for compensation. But in its ruling Wednesday the court found that the infringement "is not sufficiently serious" to incur compensation. Jailed and tortured under the Ferdinand Marcos regime, Sison sought refuge in the Netherlands in 1987. He was placed on a list of terror suspects after the 9/11 attacks but struck off the EU list in September 2009. — AFP