Beltran finds ally in Inter-Parliamentary Union

THE Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) last week called on the government to release Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, expressing “deep concern” at his continuing detention despite the absence of an arrest warrant and sufficient evidence against him.

In a resolution adopted by the Governing Council of the IPU, an association of parliamentarians from all over the world, the Union said Beltran should be presumed innocent and thus be granted his right to bail.

“(This) implies that pre-trial detention should be the exception and as short as possible, ” IPU said.

Beltran, who was arrested on Feb. 25, has been in detention for nearly three months now. He has been transferred to the Philippine Heart Center for health reasons.

Beltran was taken by the police for a 21-year-old “outstanding warrant of arrest” for allegedly committing the crime of inciting to rebellion. Following his detention, police filed a new case against Beltran for his alleged “seditious utterances” during the Feb. 24 Edsa rally at the People Power Monument.

Last March, the Quezon City Regional Trial court ordered his release. But the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group continued to hold Beltran in detention for the rebellion charges filed against him and other legislators, renegade soldiers, leaders of the communist party, and members of leftist party-list groups, who have allegedly established a tactical alliance to overthrow the government in February.

Beltran’s case was recently transferred to the sala of Makati RTC Judge Encarnacion Moya, after the previous judge, Jenny Lind Delorino, inhibited herself upon the request of the Justice department.

“There is little evidence against him,” the IPU said, “Mr. Beltran was arrested on the basis of a legally invalid arrest warrant; only later in the day of his arrest were inciting-to-sedition charges brought against him, and that only two and eight days, respectively, after his arrest were two charges of rebellion brought against him.”

The IPU also asked the House of Representatives to inform them of steps the House leaders have taken to “ensure respect for the constitutionally enshrined procedural guarantees” in Beltran’s case.

The IPU said it will direct the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue to examine the case and to report its findings at the IPU’s next session in October 2006.

The IPU conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya last week.

Read the full text of the IPU resolution here.