DUTCH PROSECUTOR OFFICE DISMISS CHARGES AGAINST JOMA
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A first-person account of Loui Galicia, who was the first to break the news!
Wrapping up my story on the Joma Sison case that began on his arrest by Dutch police in Utrecht on Aug.
28, 2007, here is the most-awaited conclusion...a happy one.
On March 31, I decided to have a sleep-in as I've been fighting a cold for three weeks already. Then my cell
phone rang at 10:30 but I was in such a deep slumber that I didn't get the call in time.
Soon after that, my phone rang again and as I was still half-awake, I missed the call again.
Thanks to technology, you no longer really "miss" calls anymore because you always can call back or
receive messages through voicemail.
Zipping through my voice mail, the messages made me jump out of bed.
Ruth de Leon of the National Democratic Front left a message that Joma's charges were dropped.
The second message was from no less than "Joma" himself, breaking the news that the Dutch Public
Prosecutor's Office had already abandoned the charges against him.
I immediately called Mr. Sison and congratulated him.
He suggested that if I want an interview, I can join him in the Amsterdam office of his lawyers.
He told me that I should be in Amsterdam at 3 pm.
I rushed to the Den Haag CS to catch the train ride to Amsterdam to get that exclusive story.
Looking out the window while I was in the train, the sun was shining so bright...I know that it shone brighter
for Mr. Sison that Tuesday.
As I was checking the street numbers, I bumped into NDF's Boyen Baleva, who just parked his car. He said
that Mr. Sison's already in the building.
I went inside, and there they were, with very happy faces: Mr. Sison, his wife Ms. Juliet, Mr. Luis Jalandoni,
Ms. de Leon, a lady lawyer and Mr. Sison's star lawyer Michiel Pestman.
They were discussing what's stated in the notice which Mr. Sison personally received around 9:30 in the
morning.
The Public Prosecutor's Office had indeed dropped the charges because of insufficient evidence.
Not that I needed to hear that...
Because I am the type who always want to be on top of things, I already broke the news while I was still at
home.
In fact, before leaving the house, I already phoned the Public Prosecutor's Office Spokesman Wim de Bruin
to get confirmation.
Mr. de Bruin confirmed to me, via telephone, that the Public Prosecutor had indeed abandoned the murder
charges against Mr. Sison in the killings of his erstwhile allies Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara for lack
of sufficient evidence.
My report was immediately posted on www.abs-cbnnews.com around 12 noon (Europe).
Back to the meeting in Amsterdam, Mr. Sison and Mr. Pestman discussed the next steps to take because as
Mr. Pestman has put it, there are still other battles to be won.
Mr. Pestman said that they are still waiting for the Dutch court to decide on their complaint regarding the
assassination attempts at Mr. Sison.
Mr. Sison was very happy and Ms. Juliet was ecstatic. I asked them to pose for the camera and they were
just hugging and laughing and smiling.
It looked like the happiest day of their lives.
Mr. Sison said that he is very happy because he had waited too long for this decision.
He however said that it wasn't a surprise because he had long expected the case to be closed.
He has always insisted that on his innocence.
After more than one and a half years, Mr. Sison is finally vindicated and his name came out clean.
Mr. Sison said that he hopes for the Dutch government to try to set things right by having him taken out of the
terror blacklist.
He is also happy that with the murder charges dropped, he can now focus on the peace negotiations
between the Philippine government and the NDF.
Scoring a 1-0 against the Philippine government, who Mr. Sison said doesn't stop to persecute him, he can
now relax and sit back...while he awaits another stunning late rally.
-end-
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A lady lawyer and Mr. Sison's star lawyer Michiel Pestman(left)
JOMA AND JULIET HAPPY
LOUI INTERVIEWS JOMA
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