FORMER Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. has been released from preventive detention at the Becora Prison in Dili, Timor Leste, his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said in a message to reporters.
Teves, tagged as the mastermind in the March 2023 assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, was released from detention in Timor-Leste but later rearrested.
According to Topacio, Teves was freed because the Philippine government’s request for his extradition “was made out of time and in a manner that is not sanctioned by practice and customary international law.”
“In other words, our government screwed up. Thus, his imprisonment was declared illegal,” Topacio said.
Topacio added that according to the local CRA Law Office and Dr. Jose Ximenez, there are still judicial proceedings that Teves will have to undergo relating to his continued stay in Timor-Leste.
The lawyer said Teves will be present during the proceedings, along with witnesses in his favor, including former Human Rights Commissioner Wilhelm Soriano.
“The road to justice for Mr. Teves will be long and hard, bloody and painful but we will never surrender, to paraphrase Winston Churchill,” Topacio said.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) clarified on Monday night that Teves was rearrested and taken into custody by the Polícia Nacional of Timor-Leste at the Becora Prison in Dili to continue to stand trial for extradition.
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