Arrest of 70-year-old activist condemned
An activist who was arrested in 2010 and then released nine months later after the murder and election gun ban case against her was found to be baseless marked her 70th birthday in detention on Thursday after a team of police officers and soldiers took her into custody earlier this week.
Human rights groups condemned the second arrest of Myrna Cruz-Abraham, this time on murder and frustrated murder charges.
“We are certain that the cases the state security forces have against Cruz-Abraham are based on concocted lies and worn-out tales meant to persecute an activist who has tirelessly worked for human and people’s rights,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general.
According to reports, Cruz-Abraham was shopping with her daughter and grandchild at a grocery store in San Rafael, Bulacan, on Jan. 27 when members of the Philippine National Police and Philippine Army arrested her.
She was then transferred to the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp Karingal, Quezon City, where she turned 70 years old on Jan. 30.
Hustisya and Karapatan said that her arrest showed that repression of dissent continues under the Marcos administration.
“It was during the national election campaign period in 2010 when Cruz-Abraham was abducted, and eventually surfaced and charged with trumped-up murder and election gun ban cases that kept her in prison for nine months,” Palabay said.
Lack of evidence
She was released nine months later after the charges against her were dismissed due to lack of evidence.
The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), meanwhile, said there were 26 political prisoners from the labor movement and a total of 763 political prisoners nationwide and most of them “were imprisoned using trumped-up charges.”
