QC judge grants motion for PI in Batasan bombing

A Quezon City judge on Tuesday granted the motion filed by the three suspects in the Nov. 13 Batasan bombing requesting for a preliminary investigation on the murder charges filed against them by the Department of Justice (DOJ). During hearing, the court asked the DOJ to resolve the preliminary investigation of the case within 20 days. “The request... wherein the accused asserting their right for preliminary investigation although not constitutional right, is granted but the request for their (accused) release from detention is denied since the absence of a preliminary investigation will not justify the release," said Judge Ralph Lee of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83. Through their legal counsels, the three accused - Caidar Aunal, Ikram Indama and Adham Kusain - filed the omnibus motion for immediate release and preliminary investigation, claiming they were denied their right to a preliminary investigation. “The denial is a substantive error, because accused is entitled to a preliminary investigation as a matter of right and that right should have been accorded them without any conditions, taking into account that accused are charged with a capital offense," the accused said in their motion. Lawyer Jose Aspiras, legal counsel for Aunal and Kusain, argued that his clients should be granted the right to preliminary investigation. He said his clients were "illegally arrested." He also said that his clients were arrested even without evidence implicating them in the commission of the Batasan bombing. Senior State Prosecutor Peter Ong, on the other hand, opposed to the prayers of the accused, saying they were given the chance to submit their respective counter-affidavits but they chose not to do so when they withdrew the waiver of Article 125, which they earlier executed. Ong further stressed that the accused have already participated in the preliminary investigation on the multiple frustrated murder now being investigated by the DOJ. Ong said that the accused filed the counter-affidavits not only in defense on the multiple frustrated murder but also to the multiple murder case. After evaluating the oral arguments of both parties, Judge Lee found merits on the arguments of the accused’s counsel and granted the preliminary investigation. “The DOJ should resolve the case within 20 days and we set the arraignment of the accused on February 26," Judge Lee said. Judge Lee also ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to transfer all the three accused at the QC Jail. Aunal and Kusain, who failed to appear during the hearing, are currently detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, while Indama is detained at the CIDG detention cell. Police arrested Aunal, Kusain and Indama during a raid in a house at Anahaw Street Parkwood Hills Quezon City for their alleged involvement in the Batasan Pambansa complex explosion, which killed six people including Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar. - GMANews.TV