Charges on two Ampatuans dropped: Agra ruling sparks protests
Charges on two Ampatuans dropped: Agra ruling sparks protests
By KRISTINE ABIGAIL LINGBAOAN and PAULINE GIDGET ESTELLA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Media groups, progressive organizations and relatives of the victims of Maguindanao massacre accused Justice Secretary Alberto Agra of arbitrarily dropping murder charges against two of the primary suspects as political payback to the Ampatuan clan for rigging the 2004 elections to favor President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“There was no proof of conspiracy and there was a proof of an alibi,” Agra said when he issued the April 17 resolution removing former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and Mamasapano Mayor Datu Akmad Ampatuan from the list of those accused. He cited plane tickets and cellphone records showing that the two Ampatuans were not in Maguindanao when the massacre took place on November 23 last year.
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