[News] 9-21 Forum on Jose Maria Sison - 7 p.m. at Manilatown Heritage Center

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Some people have asked if the forum is still taking place, since Joma 
has been released.  But the reactionaries from the Philippine 
Government, the US Government, and the Dutch Government are still 
working on and fabricating this frame-up.  So please spread the word, 
the Forum will bring important news from the Free Jose Maria Sison 
Defense Campaign!

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http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news1_sept17_2007

Manila Standard Today
Dutch probers arrive to build case on Sison

A DELEGATION of investigators from The Netherlands arrived in Manila 
yesterday to verify details and confer with local authorities on the 
case of Jose Ma. Sison, the founding chairman of the Communist Party 
of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army.

Six Dutch officials and lawyers arrived at the Ninoy Aquino 
International Airport at 8:37 a.m. on board KLM flight 803 from 
Amsterdam, according to a report by ABS-CBN network.

The report said investigators Nicolaas Vogel, Titia Vos, Robert van 
der Zwan, Lambert Elbertsen, Johannes Simits, and lawyer Icme Meissen 
would meet with police and justice officials to discuss Sison's case, 
which is pending before a court in The Hague.

The Dutch investigators are expected to gather more evidence against 
Sison to strengthen the double murder case against him.

Last week, Sison was ordered released due to lack of evidence by the 
court after more than two weeks of detention on charges that he 
ordered the murders of former comrades Romulo Kintanar and Arturo 
Tabara in the Philippines.

Kintanar, a former communist leader, was murdered on Jan. 23, 2003, 
while Tabara, another top NPA official, was assassinated along with 
his son-in-law Stephen Ong on Sept. 26, 2004.

Sison has denied involvement in the murders, saying that committing 
such acts was against his moral and political principles.

Sison's legal team, meanwhile, is also considering a visit to the 
Philippines to gather more evidence that they bellieve would prove 
his innocence.

Michiel Pestman, Sison's lawyer, met with the self-exiled leader and 
his wife, Julie, and Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the National 
Democratic Front, in The Netherlands to discuss their next legal move.

Pestman said Sison's defense had now gained the upper hand after the 
court ordered him released from prison following 17 days in solitary 
confinement.

But sources in The Hague said Sison's prosecution would continue even 
after his release for insufficient evidence.

Sison was released before the mandatory 90-day period of confinement 
for people accused of capital crimes last week.

A spokesman of the Dutch prosecutor's office also said that Sison 
remained a suspect, adding the court's decision to release Sison from 
custody would be appealed.

Sison was arrested on Aug. 30 by the Dutch International Crime 
Investigation Team in Utrecht, where he has been living for two decades.

Dutch authorities have also accused Sison of alleged involvement in 
the murder of hundreds of his comrades suspected of being military 
spies during the '80s.

Sison had been living in The Netherlands illegally after his 
application for political asylum was rejected in 1987.

Dutch authorities did not deport him because of his claim that his 
life would be endangered by his return to the Philippines.



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