Philippine lawyer claims police threaten her life

Catherine D Salucon is asking for protection against threats to her 'life, liberty and security' after a paralegal colleague was shot and killed last month after the two of them attended a hearing together.

Catherine D Salucon is asking for protection against threats to her life after a paralegal colleague was shot and killed SmileStudio

She has petitioned for a writ of habeas data (a remedy for people whose lives are threatened) and a writ of amparo (a remedy for relatives of extralegal killings) to the Court of Appeals in the Philippines. On March 24, she and paralegal William Bugatti attended a hearing for two political prisoner clients before Mr Bugatti was shot and killed. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and the chief of staff are among the named respondents. 

Target of the regime

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights alliance Karapatan said: ‘Everyone who stands by the people becomes a target of the Aquino regime. Political opponents…are charged with trumped-up criminal cases, if not killed or disappeared. The very few lawyers who are willing to defend the poor and victims of human rights violations are now themselves being subjected to human rights violations.’ Source: Bulatlat.com

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