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Philippine court denies bail request for Duterte's top critic

De Lima, a former senator, stays in prison amid trial of final drug case

Published: Wed 7 Jun 2023, 12:54 PM

Updated: Wed 7 Jun 2023, 12:57 PM

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  • Reuters

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Former Philippine senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima waves as she arrives at the Muntinlupa Trial Court in Manila on June 5, 2023. — AFP

Former Philippine senator and human rights campaigner Leila de Lima waves as she arrives at the Muntinlupa Trial Court in Manila on June 5, 2023. — AFP

A Philippine court has denied a bail request from Leila de Lima, a former senator and staunch critic of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, the defendant's lawyer said on Wednesday, thereby prolonging her detention.

"Sad to inform you that the court denied Senator Leila's bail application," Filibon Tacardon, her legal counsel, told reporters.

The petition was for a drug case that saw de Lima accused of conspiring to commit illegal narcotics trade in a Philippine prison.

De Lima was arrested in 2017, just a few months after she launched a senate investigation into Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign during which thousands of users and dealers were killed, many by police or in mysterious circumstances. She has been in police detention ever since.

A Philippine court in 2021 dismissed a drug case against de Lima, 63, while another court in May acquitted her from a charge that she received drug money from prison inmates.



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