Militant US lawyers join calls for Sison release

Militant lawyers based in the United States joined calls to the Dutch government Thursday night (Manila time) for the release of arrested CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sisonand and the dropping of charges against him. In a statement posted on the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) website (www.bayan.ph), the National Lawyers Guild said Sison’s arrest is just another assault on people’s right to dissent. “The NLG urges the Dutch government to free Jose Ma. Sison and drop all charges against this beloved people’s leader," it said. Sison is scheduled to face a Dutch court Friday evening (Manila time). The court is expected to decide whether to release him or keep him detained. NLG said Sison’s arrest is yet another example of the ongoing assault by the Arroyo regime on the people’s right to dissent and to organize. Such an assault has seen nearly a thousand men and women murdered, rebellion charges filed against members of Philippine Congress, and three NLG lawyers linked to the Taliban. NLG added the “baseless" accusations and now the arrest of Sison are just further evidence of trumped-up war against those who challenge the Arroyo administration. It called on people in the US to show their solidarity with Sison’s supporters in the Philippines. We call on those in the US to express their condemnation of the arrest and solidarity with the people’s movement in the Philippines by joining rallies, sending letters and faxes to the Dutch embassy and joining in the on-going discourse on the legality of the Dutch action in the context of international law and governance," it said. The NLG, founded in 1937, is a progressive bar association in the US. Its national office is headquartered in New York and it has chapters in nearly every state, as well as over 100 law school chapters. - GMANews.TV