Charges vs 3 Ampatuans meant to neutralize clan?

MANILA, Philippines - Three members of the influential Ampa­tuan family have claimed that their inclusion in the list of the accused in the Maguindanao massacre was a political move by their opponents to “neutralize” the clan.

In separate comments filed before a Quezon City court, Anwar Ampatuan, Sajid Islam Amapatuan and Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan said their political rivals conspired to link the entire clan to the Nov. 23, 2009 massacre.

Anwar and Sajid Islam are sons of former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr.

Akmad, on the other hand, is the nephew and son-in-law of the clan patriarch.

“Clearly, the Sangkis and their cohorts connived with each other to put the blame on the whole Ampatuan clan for the gruesome massacre in question,” read the comments of Anwar and Akmad that were filed by their lawyer Paris Real.

“That was indeed the easiest thing to do, to neutralize the Ampatuans who were their political opponents then,” it added.

The comments were filed to oppose the prosecution panel’s formal offer of evidence on the bail petition of the accused.

The statements linking the Sangkis were mentioned in the section explaining why the court should not accept the testimony of suspect Esmail Canapia, who linked members of the Ampatuan clan to the massacre.

The prosecution panel earlier sought to convert Canapia and another suspect, Takpan Dilon, into state witnesses.

In the comments, Anwar and Akmad said that the motive for Canapia’s statement is “highly suspect” and should not be admitted in court.

Citing documents from the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, the Ampatuans said the ballistics examination of the unlicensed firearms of Canapia and Dilon showed that these matched the slugs recovered from the crime scene.

Based on the testimony of witness 1st Lt. Rolly Estefen Gempesao, some councilors of the municipality of Ampatuan asked the military to release the two under the control of then mayor Sacaria Sangki.

“What is the reason, therefore, why the councilors and police officers of the municipality of Ampatuan, Maguindanao caused the release of (Canapia and Dilon) despite clear and convincing evidence of their participation in the crimes,” read the comments.

“By all means, the blame had to be put on the Ampatuans and no other. This is despite the fact that the massacre happened within the controlled territory and in the own backyard of the Sangkis,” it added.

Court records show that the prosecution panel presented former Ampatuan town vice mayor Rasul Sangki as one of its witnesses.

The panel is also seeking to make suspect Mohamad Sangki – the only Sangki charged for the massacre – a state witness.

Unbelievable

In a separate comment, Sajid Islam added that the statement of witness Noh Akil linking him to the crime is unbelievable and should not be accepted in court.

Akil claimed seeing Sajid Islam in the house of Andal Sr. several days after the massacre when he was allegedly forced to execute an affidavit to exonerate some police officers charged in connection with the massacre.

But Sajid Islam maintained that there is neither “rhyme nor reason” for why he should be punished for allegedly being present in the supposed meeting.

He said the police officers did not force the witness to execute an affidavit.

Sajid Islam noted that the meeting, if it indeed happened, is not proof that there was conspiracy to the crime.

In the latest comments filed before the court, Anwar, Sajid Islam and Akmad said that the prosecution panel failed to prove that their evidence of guilt is strong.

They asked the court to allow them to post bail and absolve them of the multiple murder case.

Fifty-eight people, including 32 members of media, died in the massacre dubbed as the single worst incident for journalists in history.