Policemen guilty of murdering Kian delos Santos

GUILTY. Police officers (in yellow shirts) found guilty of murdering Kian delos Santos try to hide their faces when they are taken to court on November 29, 2018. Photo by Jire Carreon

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – A Caloocan regional court of first instance has convicted three police officers of killing 17-year-old Kian delos Santos – the first conviction of violent cops in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs .

Judge of branch 125 of Caloocan Regional Court of First Instance (RTC) Rodolfo Azucena Jr. sentenced: the policeman 3 Arnel Oares, the policeman 1 Jeremias Pereda and the policeman 1 Jerwin Cruz, who sentenced them to perpetual imprisonment or imprisonment for 20 to 40 years without the possibility of parole.

The three were also ordered to pay Delos Santos's family 100 million civil pesos, 100,000 moral damages, $ 45,000 in real damages and 100,000 pesos in exemplary damages.

But the cops have been found not guilty of planting guns and drugs for the prosecution's fault to prove that.

At the time the court delivered its verdict on Thursday, a cry was issued by the defense, one of the cop's friends. Cruz was also seen crying.

The three men were immediately taken away by their police escort, but no one wanted to make a statement. The police did not say where they would be taken.

According to the rules, convicts are usually imprisoned in the new Bilibid Prison, but the court has not issued an order of engagement at the time of registration.

Delos Santos' parents, Saldy and Lorenza, were also immediately taken away by their escorts from the Witness Protection Program.

The three police officers, who previously belonged to the Caloocan City Police Station, 7 were arrested and detained in February of this year, six months after the murder of Delos Santos. He was hit by a bullet in a dark alley of Barangay 160, Caloocan, on his knees.

The police team was leading the drug operation Oplan Galugad, when they claimed that the thin Delos Santos had shot them. They asked for the usual police account of "nanlaban (retaliate) "or shoot the victim as part of self-defense, which has been the government's line in response to accusations of extrajudicial killings.

Extrajudicial murder

A video surveillance sequence later showed that the police were dragging a teenager – supposed to be Delos Santos – on a basketball court, before taking him into a dark alley where, according to the Forensic Science, the victim would have been shot from the top. He was kneeling face down when he was shot.

The police do not deny having shot Delos Santos, claiming that it was a shooting, but they deny that the teenager filmed by CCTV is the victim.

"Tama na po, can test pa ako bukas (Stop it please, I have a test tomorrow), "Delos Santos would have asked police officers, according to eyewitnesses.

This was the most sensational case to date for extrajudicial killing in Duterte's war on drugs, which reinforced the case for human rights defenders who claim that the cops kill Filipinos in impunity, emboldened by the harsh president.

The Supreme Court is currently examining thousands of police documents relating to deaths under the guise of the war on drugs, which they will have to rule on constitutionality.

Until now, the High Court has issued a resolution stating that the mere death toll gives the impression that murders are sponsored by the state.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, is also conducting preliminary examinations of Duterte's war on drugs to determine her competence to prosecute him for crimes against humanity.

In response, Duterte removed the Philippines from the ICC, but the preliminary examinations remain valid on the basis of the Rome Statute. – Rappler.com