Ellah Joy Pique kidnap-slay case: Couple seeks $60M damages

CEBU, Philippines -  The couple that was earlier held in relation to the kidnap-slay case of a six-year-old girl, is seeking $60 million from the Government of the Philippines.

Norwegian Sven Erik Berger and his fiancée Karen Esdrelon are going to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) to raise their complaint.

The couple went to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office yesterday for an oath-taking regarding their complaint before Prosecutor Manuel Degollacion, Jr.

Assisted by their lawyers, Glenn Villariza and Gil Tanyag, the couple intends to go to the UNCHR in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tanyag said they are no longer furnishing a copy of the complaint to President Benigno Aquino III.

He said they will have their complaint sent to the UN via electronic mail the earliest on Monday.

The two are asking $30 million each for all the embarrassment and trouble that they went through when they were held for their alleged involvement in the death of Ellah Joy Pique.

Pique was kidnapped while walking home from the Calajoan Elementary School in the town of Minglanilla last February 8.

Her body was found dumped in the town of Barili the next day.

Witnesses said that a Caucasian and a Filipina were responsible for the crime.

Berger and Esdrelon, who were on their way to Hong Kong, were held at the Mactan Cebu International Airport due to their similarity to the cartographic sketches made based on the witness accounts.

They were also allegedly tagged by witnesses.

Esdrelon said it was Berger’s idea to file the case before the UN.

Berger, in an interview with reporters, said they are suing the Government of the Philippines because this country is responsible for the police, who are their employees.

“We have to do it this way in the Philippines, because the police are responsible. We make sure that a lesson is learned from this,” the Norwegian said.

“We were very close to ending up in jail for a lifetime. I was very nervous and sitting there while waiting for the resolution and finally walk out as a free man,” a teary-eyed Berger said.

Berger, who earlier said that he will just forgive and forget, disclosed that the wounds that were brought about by the incident were not healed yet.

He and Esdrelon are set to go to Norway today or by Monday after sending their complaint to the UN.

The complaint is in relation to the string of cases filed by the couple against four policemen, including former Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Erson Digal, and an employee of the Bureau of Immigration before the Ombudsman-Visayas.

Berger, an engineer, and Esdrelon, a registered nurse, have earlier said that they were not satisfied with the resolution of the prosecutor stating the case was dismissed “for insufficiency of evidence”.

In their joint complaint, the couple narrated how they were prevented from boarding a flight to Hong Kong on February 12 this year by one of the BI personnel, who did not have any warrant of arrest or hold departure.

They claimed innocence on the crime, but they were still taken to the Police Center for Aviation Security for interrogation.

The police detained them at the CPPO for 16 days after they were tagged by three witnesses as the ones who allegedly kidnapped and killed Pique. —/NLQ (FREEMAN)