Court clears cop in Maguindanao massacre case

There is now one less suspect in the Maguindanao massacre case after a Quezon City court dropped the multiple murder charges filed against a policemen linked to the carnage. In a resolution, Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 said there was no probable cause to lodge a multiple murder case against PO1 Johann Draper, who was one of the 197 suspects charged for the November 23 violence. Six of the accused individuals are members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, including patriarch Andal Sr. and his sons, former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Jr. and former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy. The ruling stemmed from a motion earlier filed by Draper and six other members of Maguindanao police for a judicial determination of probable cause, claiming no evidence has been shown to prove their complicity in the crime. “Except for mere mention of his name in the [charge sheet of the Department of Justice], neither witnesses for the prosecution nor his co-accused had ever mentioned his actual participation or his presence before or during the commission of the multiple murder adverse to the asseveration of the panel of investigating prosecutors," Solis-Reyes said in her resolution. New witness? Lawyer Nena Santos of the prosecution told GMANews.TV that she believed Solis-Reyes made the decision "in the exercise of [her] sound discretion." Santos saw the dismissal of the case against Draper as an opportunity to gain one more witness to testify against the remaining suspects. "Draper could be a potential witness for the prosecution now that he is not an accused anymore," Santos said in a text message. The prosecution earlier lost what could have been one of its strongest witnesses when Suwaib Upham, one of the supposed gunmen in the killings who later turned against the Ampatuans, was killed in Maguindanao after failing to get government protection. It was not the first time that suspects in the massacre were cleared of charges. In a controversial move, former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra in April ordered that the multiple murder charges against Zaldy and cousin Akhmad Ampatuan recommended filed by a DOJ panel of prosecutors be dropped. After going under fire, Agra recalled the decision. 6 other cops Unlike Draper, his six colleagues who also sought for a judicial determination of probable cause failed to get a favorable ruling from Solis-Reyes. In her resolution, Solis-Reyes indicated that other suspects who may not have been in the crime scene — a desolate portion in Sitio Masalay, Brgy. Salama in Ampatuan town — but helped in manning checkpoints near the area could also be held liable for complicity. “The court is of the view that the presence of the checkpoints and road security coupled with the inaction of accused-movants had facilitated the victims’ abduction," she said. "The probability that accused… had conspired with other accused for the purpose of committing the crime of murder cannot be ruled out at this stage," she added. A total of 57 people, 32 of them journalists, were killed in what is now considered as the most heinous case of political violence in the country. Solis-Reyes has set the arraignment of the six policemen — Superintendent Abdulwahid Pedtucasan, Chief Inspector Sukarno Dicay, Senior Inspector Abdul Gapor Abad, PO3 Rasid Anton, and PO1s Michael Macarongon and Mohammad Balading — on July 28 at 9 a.m. The arraignment will be held at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where the more than 60 arrested suspects are detained. Proceedings had earlier been suspended indefinitely due to numerous pending motions before Solis-Reyes’ sala. The supposed failure of the Maguindanao police to arrest around 130 remaining suspects had led to the resignation of Maguindanao police chief Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses. Maguindanao governor Esmael “Toto" Mangudadatu — a rival of the Ampatuans and whose wife and sisters were killed in the massacre — had appointed Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac to replace Lineses. - KBK, GMANews.TV