Cedric Lee, Zimmer Raz seek bail for serious illegal detention case

Published April 29, 2014 10:00am

Businessman Cedric Lee and Simeon "Zimmer" Raz, suspects in the mauling of TV host-actor Vhong Navarro, have asked the Taguig City Regional Trial Court to grant them bail despite facing serious illegal detention charges, a non-bailable offense.

According to a report on GMA News' Saksi on Monday night, Lee and Raz filed the petition two days following their arrest in Eastern Samar on Saturday.

Earlier on Monday, the National Bureau of Investigation presented Lee and Raz to the media.

The two had been detained at the National Bureau of Investigation head office in Manila since Sunday. They were escorted to the Tacloban Airport by NBI agents and police officers the day after their arrest.

Lee, Raz, model Deniece Cornejo, and two others are facing serious illegal detention charges in connection with the January 22 mauling of Navarro.

The NBI had earlier failed to arrest Lee in San Juan, though its agents briefly brought in Lee's sister Bernice for questioning. Bernice was released after posting bail for a separate grave coercion case.

On the other hand, a report on GMA News' Unang Balita on Tuesday said authorities continue to search for Cornejo and the other suspects.

The report quoted authorities from the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group as saying that the suspects' camp earlier said they will surrender. As of Monday, however, no one has yielded to authorities.

Meanwhile, the same report said a suspect is still in talks with the police about the possibility of surrendering. The report did not identify the suspect. — Amanda Fernandez/RSJ, GMA News

Tags: vhongnavarro, cedriclee, zimmerraz