Napoles lawyer seeks freedom... for Mali

MANILA, Philippines - From Hayden Kho to James Yap, from Janet Lim-Napoles, to... Mali the elephant?

The lawyer of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Napoles has joined the bandwagon of those seeking to free the elephant Mali from her pen at the Manila Zoo.

In a letter to the editor sent to The STAR yesterday, lawyer Lorna Kapunan said Mali is serving a “life sentence” for a crime she did not commit.

“When I graduated from law school in 1978, Mali, the elephant at the Manila Zoo, was a 4-year-old toddler. She had lost her entire family and had been taken from her home and shipped to a strange and frightening enclosure – where she remains to this day,” wrote Kapunan.

“While Filipinos have gone about their lives – working, playing, raising families, and sharing joys and struggles – Mali has spent nearly four decades in the same barren concrete pen. She spends every minute of every day staring at the same walls. The banality and futility of her existence are unthinkable. There’s no escaping the comparison to a prison cell,” she added.

Kapunan also said Mali has been denied the company of other elephants and has never received veterinary care from someone familiar with her species, but there is a sanctuary waiting for her.

“We punish criminals in our society by denying them their freedom. Why is Mali serving a life sentence for a crime that she never committed? This elephant is long overdue for a pardon,” she added.