Russian drug trafficker held in ‘comfortable’ Philippines house. What about Hong Kong pair in cocaine bust from same flight?

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has pledged two accused Russian drug traffickers will be detained in a “comfortable house”, rather than his nation’s badly overcrowded jails.

Duterte made the commitment at a meeting late Monday with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of a regional summit in Manila.

“I would just like to say that we have a working functional justice system here and they will get a fair trial and that they will be detained in a comfortable house,” Duterte told Medvedev, according to an official transcript.

“Whether (the allegations are) true or not, we will find out but I will see to it that they are treated fairly and no additional stress on their person that will happen.”

Yuri Kirdyushkin and Anastasia Novopashina were under investigation for drug smuggling but had not been convicted, Duterte said.