DOJ drops raps vs. poet-activist Ericson Acosta

(Updated 3:21 p.m.) The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dropped charges against cultural activist and poet Ericson Acosta, who has been incarcerated since 2011 over what his friends and supporters claimed was a trumped-up charge. In a 15-page resolution signed by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III, the DOJ said it found "numerous irregularities" in the arrest, detention, and turn-over of Acosta that led the agency to "seriously doubt the validity of the charges against him." The DOJ noted how Acosta was not immediately brought to the nearest police station or jail after his arrest, as required under Section 3, Rule 113 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure. Acosta, 40, has been detained at the Calbayog Sub-Provincial Jail since his arrest, but was temporarily released earlier this month to seek medical checkup, confinement and treatment at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City. The DOJ said it was "undisputed" that Acosta was not allowed by his arresting officers to communicate with his family or lawyer during the arrest. "While arresting officers vaguely mentioned in the affidavit of arrest that they informed respondent of his constitutional rights, nowhere therein has it been shown that respondent Acosta was allowed to make a phone call," the DOJ said. The DOJ also found out that there was no proper inventory of the grenade supposedly recovered from Acosta. "There should have been some record that would document how, where, when and from whom such grenade was taken. In the instant case however the grenade seemed to have just been produced out of thin air, so to speak," the DOJ said. The DOJ further said that while there existed the presumption of regularity on the part of the arresting officers, it was "tainted" by the irregularities the DOJ mentioned. It also said the presumption of irregularity in the performance of official duty cannot overcome the presumption of innocence. "Considering that the case filed by the Provincial Prosecutor of Samar rests entirely on the 'word' of his arresting officers, we find that the above-mentioned irregularities that accompanied respondent Acosta's arrest destroy the same," the DOJ said. Asked if Acosta could finally be released due to the dropping of the charges, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said: "Not yet. The court needs to act first on the motion to witdraw information." Acosta was arrested in San Jorge town in Samar on suspicion that he is a member of the communist movement. A case of illegal possession of explosives was lodged against him before the Gandara Regional Trial Court. A few weeks ago, Public Attorney's Office chief Persdia Rueda-Acosta wrote De Lima to request that Acosta's petition for review be finally resolved. In his petition for review, Ericson Acosta cited several supposed irregularities and human rights violations in his arrest and detention, among them his arrest without warrant even though he did not commit any crime or did anything illegal. He also said he was not informed of the reason for his arrest at the time of his arrest, nor was he given the right to a single phone call and prevented to contact his family or lawyer. He also claimed he was denied the right to counsel, and was even subjected under "prolonged interrogation" for 44 hours. Acosta also claimed to have been "physically and psychologically tortured during tactical interrogation." He said he was also "deprived of sleep, threatened, intimidated, coerced, and forced to admit membership to the New People's Army." He said the grenade found in his possession was "planted." He said the complaint against him was filed only after 72 hours and 30 minutes. He also questioned his detention in a military camp, which is not of civilian jurisdiction. The "Free Ericson Acosta" movement led by National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera has been calling for Ericson's release for two years. In November 2011, Acosta was named finalist of the Imprisoned Artist Prize at the Freedom to Create Awards Festival in Cape Town, South Africa along with other nominees from Myanmar and Tibet, according to the group. — KBK, GMA News