DOJ indicts Karen Hamidon for alleged recruitment of ISIS fighters

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed inciting to rebellion charges in court against Karen Hamidon, widow of a slain Islamist militant leader, for allegedly using social media to recruit fighters to aid Maute rebels in Marawi City.

The DOJ indicted Hamidon on December 6 for 295 counts of inciting to rebellion under Article 138 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act 10175) before the Taguig City Regional Trial Court, which the Supreme Court designated to try and resolve cases in connection with the rebellion in Mindanao.

Government investigators conducting undercover work and a forensic examination had accused Hamidon of using messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, where they said she was "prolific in her recruitment and promotion activities for ISIS.”

"The Islamic State invites you to join in the Philippines. We note that the door to immigration is open to the cities of Marawi and (the southern region of) Mindanao," state investigators quoted Hamidon as saying in a Telegram post.

Hamidon had denied the allegations, insisting she was an Islamic missionary who had used social media for religious purposes.

Describing herself as a "weak woman," Hamidon, a former call center agent and flight attendant, said she had no means to take up arms against the government.

"As a matter of fact, she owes the government so much because she was raised by the her parents through their salaries from being government employees specifically of the Philippine National Police," Hamidon’s counter-affidavit stated.

Hamidon claimed her marriage to slain Ansarul Khalifa Philippines leader Mohammad Jaafar Maguid “made her life to be of special interest to arresting persons.”

She also said that she was instigated by an undercover agent to commit the crime.

But for the DOJ, the contents of the messages and the multiple times these were posted “defy her theory of instigation.”

“As to her arguments that she was not committing any crime at the time she was arrested and at the time her mobile phone was seized, and all the aforequoted social media posts do not bear her name, these arguments are evidentiary in character which are best ventilated in a full-blown trial,” the DOJ said in a resolution dated November 27.

“The presumption prevails that complainants regularly performed their official duties and ordinary course of business has been followed,” it added.

The department dismissed the complaint for rebellion under Articles 134 and 135 of the Revised Penal Code, saying it was “devoid of merit, misplaced and totally erroneous.”

“In this case, there is no showing that rebellion was actually committed by persons to whom the aforequoted messages were sent. Hence, the complaint for rebellion cannot stand,” the DOJ said.

Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong prepared the resolution which was approved by Senior Deputy State Prosecutor officer-in-charge Amor Robles and Acting Prosecutor General Jorge Catalan Jr.

The 36-year-old Hamidon was arrested at her residence in Taguig City last October 11 and has since been detained at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Manila.

The arrest came days before President Rodrigo Duterte declared that Marawi City had been freed from the terrorists following the killings of siege leaders Abu Sayyaf head Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute. —ALG/KG, GMA News