A hearing was set Thursday but Tesiorna said the police officers who were the witnesses of the prosecution during the first court hearing last March 19 did not appear before the court.
By JOHN RIZLE L. SALIGUMBA
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The hearing for the case of Annabel Nieva Lee, wife of the suspected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader killed in a special police operation last December, was set next week, March 25.
This was shared by Lee’s lawyer, Ben Joseph Tesiorna, to davaotoday.com in a phone interview Friday.
A hearing was set Thursday but Tesiorna said the police officers who were the witnesses of the prosecution during the first court hearing last March 19 did not appear before the court.
“They were supposed to identify if the black bag which Fikrie was carrying is the same bag that was presented and marked as evidence during the second hearing last March 20, ” Tesiorna said.
In the hearing Tuesday, Senior Police Officer 1 Marcial Aplasca, one of the witnesses of the prosecutor said Malaysian National Mohammad Noor Fikrie Abud Kahar, the alleged JI bomber, “may have forced his wife to act as a human shield.”
“She was convincing him to surrender. She tried to resist but he had her neck locked with his right arm while his left hand was on the cellphone trigger,” Aplasca testified before the Regional Trial Court Branch 14 under Judge George Omelio.
When asked by the prosecution in a direct examination to narrate the circumstances he witnessed that night, Aplasca said that when Lee had the chance, she alighted and left Kahar.
“When they went down from their room to the hotel lobby, the suspect immediately threatened to explode the bomb,” said Aplasca who estimated that he was 10-15 meters away from the suspect.
He said that they got out of the hotel lobby and positioned outside while the couple attempted to board any passing vehicle.
“When the suspect released his right arm, the woman ran away. They ran separately. The woman towards Quirino, while the man ran towards Peoples Park,” Aplasca added.
Aplasca is assigned to the Technical Support Platoon of the Public Safety Company of the Davao City Police Office and a member of the bomb squad who joined the December operations against Kahar.
In an interview Tuesday, Tesiorna said that his client has a strong defense which was made “clear in the statements of the witness.” He also added that the prosecution must prove “prior knowledge” and “intent to possess” to fulfill “their obligation to prove guilt.”
Lee was charged with illegal possession of incendiary device after authorities allegedly recovered from her bag a “high-powered initiator container with a switch.” However, during her arraignment on January 11, she entered a not guilty plea.
Lee is currently detained at the Naval Intelligence and Security Group in Camp Panacan. (John Rizle L. Saligumba/davaotoday.com)
