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FRS Release
(Website)
7 Sept. 2007
FRS, Rødt picket Dutch Embassy in Oslo to protest Sison's arrest
Members of the Filippinsk Ressurssenter (FRS) and other Norwegian support
groups picketed today, September 7 infront of the Dutch embassy in Oslo to
protest the arrest and detention of NDF Political Consultant, Professor
Jose Marie Sison in the Netherlands.
In a statement that FRS handed to Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission
Hanjo de Kuiper of the Dutch Embassy in Oslo, FRS maintains that there is
no justification for the detention of Sison and called for his immediate
release.
"We fear that the arrest of Prof. Sison will impede the resumption of
peace talks which is being facilitated by Norway," says FRS Spokesperson
Lars Gaupset.
Gaupset also said that Sison's rights should be respected by the Dutch
government in accordance with the Geneva Convention and not be subjected
to solitary confinement as reported by his lawyer, Michiel Pestman.
Rødt/RV Vice Chairperson Ingrid Baltzersen also read a letter of protest
to the embassy which partly stated that "it considers the real reason for
the arrest of Sison as political not criminal" and that it puts
reponsibility on the Dutch government "for liquidating the peace process
in the Philippines by intervening in the Philippine struggle."
The Communist Platform, in a pamphet distributed at the picket also
demanded that the Dutch government grant political asylum to Sison and
echoed the call for his release.
Members of the Changemaker youth group and Karibu Foundation also showed
up to lend their support to the call for Sison's release.
In a short response to the mass action, Counsellor Kuiper denied that the
case against Sison is political. He also dismissed accusations the Dutch
government has a hand in the Sison case saying that he is facing a
"criminal" case before the Prosecutor's Office in the Netherlands.
He also claimed that he has not knowledge of the circumstances around
Sison's arrest but maintains that the Dutch government is merely following
the due process.
Asked as to why the Prosecutor's Office in the Netherlands is pursuing the
case against Sison even as the same accusations against him had been
dismissed by the Philippine Supreme Court, Kuiper said that latter has no
bearing on the case and it is up to the Dutch courts to decide if Sison
violated Dutch laws as alleged by complainants against Sison.
Sison is facing criminal charges in the Netherlands for alleging directly
ordering the assassination of two former Communist leaders, Romulo
Kintanar and Arturo Tabara in his capacity as alleged Chairperson of the
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The CPP has admitted
responsibility for the killings.###
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