Sison off EU terror list, Beltran released

The Filipino left has won two important legal victories. First, a European Union court ruling removed Prof. José Maria

Prof. Jose Maria Sison

Sison from the EU terrorist list and unfroze his assets. Second, a Filipino court order freed Crispin Beltran after 16 months of arrest. Beltran was held on charges of rebellion originating two decades earlier.

The Dutch embassy in Manila claimed that the Sison ruling does not apply to the latest EU decision to list him as a “terrorist.” Sison countered that hostile reactions by Dutch and Filipino officials “reflect the arrogance, malice and viciousness of state authorities under the influence of the Bush war of terror.”

Sison is the chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in peace talks with the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government. Beltran is a congressional representative and prominent labor leader.

Both are targets of the political witch-hunt against leftists fighting U.S. imperialism and the Arroyo puppet regime.