On Sept. 13, the District Court of the Hague decided to release Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. Sison was arrested on Aug. 28 in a coordinated action that included police raids on six apartments and the international information office of the NDFP in the Netherlands.
Sison was previously a victim of torture when he was held as a political prisoner in the Philippines from 1977 to 1986,
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Dutch authorities have filed trumped-up charges alleging that Prof. Sison ordered the killing of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Tabara, former leaders of the movement in the Philippines, who allegedly had been collaborating with the government and engaging in corrupt activities.
Sison was kept in solitary confinement for 16 days and, according to his lawyer, Michiel Pestman, had been denied warm clothing, visits from his wife and access to his own doctor. While Sison was in custody, solidarity actions were held in over 20 countries to protest his detention.
It was a victory for progressives and revolutionaries everywhere when the court announced, “the files do not contain sufficient concrete indications that the accused incited others to commit these serious offences.”
Unfortunately, Sison’s release does not represent the end of the campaign against him and the popular movement in the Philippines. The Dutch authorities, with the help of the Philippine and U.S. governments, have said they will pursue the judicial case against him.
Sison has repeatedly declared his innocence and vowed to conduct his legal defense to overcome “the false and politically-motivated charge.”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation joins with progressive organizations around the world in demanding that the Dutch authorities immediately drop all charges, return all seized materials and stop assisting the repressive campaign against the NDFP.
