Court asked to sanction prosecutors for opposing Zaldy hospitalization

A defense lawyer in the Maguindanao massacre case has hit back at prosecution lawyers who were asking a Quezon City court to cite in contempt suspect Zaldy Ampatuan for his extended hospitalization at the Philippine Heart Center last week. In a twin motion filed on Monday, defense lawyer Paris Real said the court should sanction Assistant Regional State Prosecutor Peter Medalle and private prosecutors Nena Santos and Harry Roque for allegedly publicly criticizing and “arrogantly" lambasting Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court when they opposed the hospitalization. Real, surprisingly, was not the legal counsel for Ampatuan, a suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, but of other suspects in the high profile case, namely Nicomedes Tolentino and Nasser Esmael. In the twin motion, Real asked the court to order the prosecutors to explain why they should not be held in indirect contempt when they opposed Ampatuan’s two-day hospitalization. Noting that Judge Solis-Reyes, in a ruling on July 21, had allowed Ampatuan’s confinement until 12 noon the next day, Real said he considers the prosecutors' reaction to Ampatuan’s hospitalization as a "whimsical attack on the dignity of the court." Meanwhile, the other pleading in Real's twin motion involved his request for the deferment of Judge Solis-Reyes' resolution on the prosecution's request to discharge from the case several policemen-suspect being planned to be turned into state witnesses. Asked by GMA News Online for a reaction, Santos said she was still preparing her comment. Roque, meanwhile, denied lambasting the judge. "I lambasted Zaldy.... [but] never Judge Solis-Reyes since her order was clear: outpatient only," he said in a text message to GMA News Online. Ampatuan was brought to the PHC on July 20 to undergo a medical examination for his diabetes and heart problems. Despite a court order specifying his admission only as an outpatient, he stayed overnight at the medical facility. The next day, on July 21, families of the massacre victims criticized Ampatuan’s confinement, saying he violated a court decision and that he might only be after a hospital arrest. Roque, representing Editha Tiamzon, widow of slain UNTV journalist Daniel Tiamzon, file da petition asking that the suspect and Quezon City Jail Annex warden Chief Inspector Edgar Camus be held in contempt for the extended hospitalization. The petition was raffled off to Judge Marie Christine Jacob, but she eventually issued an order transferring the petition to Judge Solis-Reyes' sala by virtue of a Supreme Court ruling designating Judge Solis-Reyes' court as a "special court" tasked to handle all motions and petitions related to the Maguindanao massacre. Ampatuan's lawyers eventually asked Judge Solis-Reyes to allow an extension of his stay at the hospital, which the judge allowed Thursday night with the condition that he undergo an angiogram immediately and be discharged by Friday noon. Hours before Judge Solis-Reyes' 12 noon deadline for hospitalization, Ampatuan sought an extension, citing a medical recommendation from his physician for further confinement while the wounds from his angiogram procedures heal. However, the judge did not issue a ruling on the second request, prompting officials of the Metro Manila District Jail — which has custody of Ampatuan — to bring the suspect back to his jail cell inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. Despite Zaldy's return to jail, the prosecution still asked Judge Solis-Reyes to issue a show cause order against Ampatuan's lawyers, PHC doctors, and jail officials for allowing the extended hospitalization to happen. — KBK, GMA News