Nur’s lawyers set to file case of illegal deportation vs Mahatir

Lawyers of jailed former Gov. Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are poised to question before the Belgian courts the legality of his Jan. 7 deportation as ordered by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad.

"The Belgian courts will take cognizance of the case. It was an illegal deportation (in) which Mahatir also took part," said lawyer Macapanton Abbas Jr., head of Misuari’s 25-member legal panel.

Abbas said separate charges of arbitrary detention will also be filed against Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr., and the police officials who were part of the delegation that fetched Misuari from Kuala Lumpur where he was detained following his arrest for illegal entry.

Abbas explained that under a United Nations resolution, human rights cases committed elsewhere in the world may be lodged before the Belgian courts.

The filing of the international case will be spearheaded by former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Jose Grapilon.

Abbas claimed that Misuari’s deportation violated due process as mandated by international law.

He said Misuari, who is facing rebellion charges filed in a court in Jolo, Sulu was deported without a warrant of arrest.

Abbas added that the warrant of arrest was issued by the Sulu judge in Zamboanga City on Jan. 7 and was delivered to him two days later.

"Besides, there was no commitment order for Misuari to be detained at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where he was immediately taken after he was deported from Malaysia," the lawyer noted.

He also alleged that the commitment order was issued only on Jan. 14 in violation of the extradition process.

Upon arrival at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City aboard a military C-130 cargo plane that fetched him from Kuala Lumpur, Misuari was immediately flown by helicopter to the heavily secured Fort Sto. Domingo detention center in Sta. Rosa, Laguna originally meant for deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Seven other followers of Misuari were also flown back to Manila by Malaysian authorities, six of them detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig. His closest aide, Abu Harris Osman, accompanied him to Laguna.

Misuari was jailed for six weeks in Kuala Lumpur following his arrest in Sabah state on Nov. 24 for illegal entry.

The six other Misuari followers — Bakil Anay Harur, Johan Sawadjaan Sanzibar, Akil Abdurahman Abdur, Uddin Esguera Ishmael, Gamar bin Abdul Razak and Omar bin Abdullah — were turned over to a Philippine National Police (PNP) delegation headed by Director Nestorio Gualberto, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

The Philippine Air Force Fokker plane used by Gualberto’s group for the mission landed at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

The 60-year-old Misuari, former chairman of the secessionist rebel group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), will be prosecuted for the capital offense of rebellion arising from a failed attempt to hold on to power last Nov. 19 in Sulu.

Administrative cases have also been leveled against him.

The shortlived uprising, involving some 600 heavily armed MNLF fighters who assaulted a number of military outposts in Jolo, Sulu and Zamboanga City, left some 100 people dead, mostly MNLF members.

The attacks were obviously pulled off to thwart ARMM elections meant to choose Misuari’s successor.

Police filed the rebellion charges against Misuari and his men before the regional trial court (RTC) in Jolo. If found guilty, Misuari could face up to 20 years imprisonment.

The MNLF forged a peace treaty with the government in 1996, paving the way for the creation of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development previously headed by Misuari.

The court has also issued an arrest order for Julhambri Misuari, a nephew of the former ARMM governor, who allegedly led the attack by some 100 of the so-called Misuari Renegade Group in Cabatangan complex in Zamboanga City on Nov. 27 and held some villagers hostage, among them young children and the elderly.