Philippine court grants bail for Duterte critic Leila De Lima after 6 years in jail
- Human rights campaigner and former senator De Lima, 64, was jailed on narcotics-related charges she says were fabricated to silence her
- Cases were filed against her during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, whose drug war killed thousands
“This is a moment of triumphant joy and also thanksgiving,” an emotional de Lima told reporters as she left court surrounded by police officers.
De Lima, 64, one of the most outspoken critics of Duterte and his deadly anti-drug war, was jailed on narcotics-related charges she says were fabricated to silence her.
“Bail granted,” lawyer Filibon Tacardon said in a message sent to reporters.
Outside the court, Tacardon said: “We’re ecstatic, happy. Ma’am [de Lima] cried.”
“We expected the bail solely because of the merits of the case. We believe that she’s innocent – we all believe that she’s innocent and all these charges are trumped up.”
The bail was granted on her last remaining drug case where she is accused of tolerating alleged drug trade in the national penitentiary when she was justice chief.
A court acquitted her in mid-May in a charge alleging her of conspiracy to trade illegal drugs.
The cases against the former senator were filed during the presidency of Duterte, whose drug war killed thousands. De Lima investigated the drug war when she was a human rights chief and a lawmaker, putting her in Duterte’s cross hairs.
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Marcos has said there were abuses during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court.
Human Rights Watch welcomed the bail decision.
“She never should have been unjustly prosecuted and detained by former President Rodrigo Duterte,” deputy Asia director Bryony Lau said in a statement.
Lau said Duterte’s administration “concocted evidence and used the machinery of an abusive state to punish her for performing her duties as a senator” and “speaking out against the war on drugs”.
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De Lima, 64, is accused of taking money from inmates inside the largest prison in the Philippines to allow them to sell drugs while she was justice minister from 2010 to 2015.
Multiple witnesses, including prison gang bosses, died or recanted their testimonies, resulting in the dismissal of two of the three charges against de Lima.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos came to office last year, there have been renewed calls from human rights groups, foreign diplomats and politicians for de Lima’s release.
While in jail, she has suffered various health problems, including a pelvic organ prolapse that required surgery.
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In October 2022, she was briefly taken hostage during an attempted breakout by three detained militants.
Before her arrest in February 2017, de Lima had spent a decade investigating “death squad” killings allegedly orchestrated by Duterte during his time as Davao City mayor and in the early days of his presidency.
She conducted the probes while serving as the nation’s human rights commissioner, and then from 2010 to 2015 as justice minister in the Aquino administration that preceded Duterte’s rule.
After winning a Senate seat in the 2016 elections that also swept populist Duterte to power, de Lima became one of the few opposition voices.
Duterte then accused her of running a drug trafficking ring with criminals when she was justice secretary, forcing her from the Senate and into a jail cell.
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De Lima lost her bid for re-election in May 2022 after campaigning from behind bars.
Duterte, who was constitutionally barred from seeking a second term as president, stepped down the following month.
Throughout the proceedings, de Lima has insisted the charges against her had been trumped-up in retaliation for going after Duterte and his drug war that killed thousands of people.
The lawyer and mother of two has been held in a compound for high-profile detainees, rather than one of the Philippines’ notoriously overcrowded jails.
