Justice chief Vida in Prague to discuss Zaldy Co's return to Philippines

Justice Secretary Frederick Vida and Chief State Counsel Dennis Chan are in Prague to discuss with the Czech authorities how Zaldy Co may be returned to the Philippines, where he is facing corruption and malversation charges.

According to Mariz Umali's report on "24 Oras," the country’s high-level Coordinating Team arrived on Friday and met with the Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic Eddie Meñez to discuss legal ways to bring Co home.

Co’s detention was confirmed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself last April 16 after he was intercepted while trying to enter Prague without the necessary documentation.

International Migration Expert and Prague Association for Integration and Migration Director Magda Faltova said that the presence of Philippine officials would be a big influence on how the Czech Republic will respond to the case.

“It's definitely a message, you know, for the Czech government that it's important and it's a case that they need to have a close look, but they cannot influence the courts. It should be independent from any political pressure or intentions or anything… Probably necessary for the Philippines and the Czech Republic to negotiate about it or to start the procedure of extradition to do it, but it has some limits in how it can influence the result,” she said.

She added that Co’s turnover would still be possible without an extradition treaty between the Czech Republic and the Philippines, but that the latter would have to release an Interpol Red Notice against Co.

Following that, the Czech Republic will assess Co’s safety in the country.

“Meaning that the Czech authorities need to receive the information about the crimes, the whole file, the investigation, and assess if the acts are crimes in the Czech Republic as well… If there is any danger that his life would be, you know, tortured, his life would be endangered, and so on. It's this non-refoulement principle. Under international law, we cannot return people to places where their human rights would be violated,” she said.

Faltova said that the easiest way to bring Co home was to get him deported, but that this would take some time.

She also said that it would be impossible for Vida’s team to bring Co home on this trip.

“The decision of detention has to be reviewed. I assume that he has a legal representation, so this petition to review it can be done repeatedly as the detention is prolonged. So the first one would be after 90 days and then repeated and repeated,” she shared.

The High Level Coordinating Team is set to provide new updates on Co in a press conference on Friday night. —Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/NB, GMA News