Wednesday, March 14, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

March 1988: A Month of Revolt

Posted: 14 Mar 2018 07:22 AM PDT

The bloody events of March 1988 set the stage for the uprising in August of that year and, ultimately, for Myanmar's political course over the next three decades. Here is a detailed timeline of how that pivotal month unfolded.

March 12, 1988 — Students from the Rangoon Institute of Technology and youths from west Gyogone Ward, Insein Township, had a brawl at the Sandaw Win Teashop. The Insein Police Force opened a case against the youths from west Gyogone Ward.

March 13 — While police held two youths — Zaw Zaw, also known as Nyi Nyi Lwin, and Khin Maung Myint — in detention, other youths from west Gyogone Ward started a brawl with students from the Rangoon Institute of Technology.

Ko Phone Maw, a fifth-year student at the Rangoon Institute of Technology studying chemical engineering, was killed by riot police on the school campus. Five others were injured. One of the five, Ko Soe Naing, died of gunshot wounds 23 days later. The other four were kept shackled at a hospital.

The Rangoon Institute of Technology Students Union was formed with 70 members to oppose the Burma Socialist Program Party.

(In 2012, democracy advocates including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi designated March 13 as Myanmar Human Rights Day.)

March 14 — Students of the Rangoon Institute of Technology painted a star on the ground where Ko Phone Maw was shot and killed. They staged a protest march to demand student rights.

March 15 — Following further protests, the military raided the Rangoon Institute of Technology and arrested hundreds of students. They closed the country’s universities and said students were free to go back to their home towns.

March 16 — Students from Rangoon University took to the streets in response to the military's raid on the Rangoon Institute of Technology. Soldiers and riot police used force to disperse the students at Tada Phyu (which means White Bridge in Burmese) on Pyay Road. Dozens of students were killed and injured and hundreds of them were detained. This event later came to be known as the Red Bridge incident by activists, as the area had been turned red with the blood of students.

March 17 — Following the government’s brutal crackdown, the State Council formed an investigation commission led by U Ba Maw, a member of the Council of People's Justice, and invited those wishing to give their account of events to come forward.

(The commission’s report would claim that the riots were triggered when civilian youths beat students from the Rangoon Institute of Technology, that appropriate actions were taken against those who exacerbated the brawl and instigated the riots, and that the majority of students at the Rangoon Institute of Technology were peaceful by nature.)

Members of the public joined the students in their protests against the government in downtown Yangon.

March 18 — Soldiers and riot police cracked down on demonstrators in downtown Yangon and sent those they detained to Insein Prison. Forty-one of them died inside a prisoner transport vehicle on their way to the prison.

March 19 — It was found that they died after inhaling tear gas and because of poor ventilation inside the transport vehicle. The minister for home affairs and religious affairs, U Min Khaung, a former army major general, subsequently resigned.

March 21 — Twenty-three of 27 detained female students were released.

March 30 — 1,233 of 1,723 detainees were released.

The post March 1988: A Month of Revolt appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Karen Villagers Protest Hatgyi Dam, Other Projects on Salween River

Posted: 14 Mar 2018 06:15 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – More than 1,700 people living near the site of the planned Hatgyi Dam on the Salween River in Karen State's Hpapun district gathered to show their objections to the project and mark International Day of Action for Rivers on Wednesday.

Saw Tha Poe, spokesman for Karen River Watch, one of the campaign groups opposing dam construction on the river, said the group opposes dam construction on Myanmar's biggest rivers, the Salween and the Irrawaddy, as well as on other rivers in the state.

In a statement released on Wednesday, KRW called for "a moratorium on all large infrastructure, energy, and extractive projects in Karen areas until genuine peace is established through political dialogue, leading to the implementation of a participatory federal system throughout [Myanmar]."

Although the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, signed a bilateral ceasefire in 2012 and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015, clashes between Tatmadaw troops and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, have been reported as recently as March 4 in Mutraw (Hpapun) district, northern Karen State.

Following the latest round of clashes, the Tatmadaw deployed more than 600 soldiers across the ceasefire line in Hpapun, forcing 1,500 people from 14 villages to flee their homes, according to KRW.

In 2015 and 2016, it said, the Tatmadaw's troop deployments in Karen State have "steadily increased", leading to "intensified armed conflict". There were over 40 clashes involving, on one side, the various forces of the Tatmadaw, including its paramilitary Border Guard Force, and, on the other, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, its splinter group the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, and the KNLA.

Saw Tha Poe added that the refugees displaced after the conflicts broke out near the proposed Hatgyi Dam site in 2016 have not been able to return to their homes. The conflict erupted after the National League for Democracy-led government declared its support in September 2016 for the damming of the Salween River. The fighting has forced some 5,000 Karen from their villages and many refugees remain in IDP camps in Myaing Gyi Ngu.

Despite continual protests by environmentalists and locals against the damming of the Salween, construction on the Hatgyi Dam project has proceeded, said Saw Tha Poe, with a new road having nearly reached the dam. Construction on the dam is scheduled to be complete in 2020-21.

"If it continues, over 2,000 people from 30 villages could be affected," he told The Irrawaddy.

KRW said that proceeding with these hydropower projects would not only dispossess already marginalized ethnic communities who have survived the world's longest civil war, but also result in "permanent militarization of these fragile regions."

Karen River Watch (Supplied)

Ultimately, KRW said, the energy projects along the Salween River, on which 14 large dams are planned or currently under construction, "will export electricity, but import social problems and environmental destruction to river systems that support the lives of millions of people in Karen, Karenni, Mon, and Shan states."

On Wednesday morning in Shan State's Hsipaw Township, the villagers of Talong urged a halt to the Upper Ye Ywar hydropower plant on the Namtu River, according to Action for Shan State Rivers.

In Karenni state, some 300 locals and members of the Burma Rivers Network (BRN) came together to show their opposition to the dams being built "within the conflict zones" at Ba He Hta village in Hpa Sawng Township in Karenni (Kayah) State, according to Mi Ah Chai, the organization's spokeswoman.

She told The Irrawaddy that the BRN welcomed some of the recommendations made by the International Financial Cooperation (IFC) at a stakeholder discussion in Yangon in February. In particular it agreed with the IFC's recommendation against building mainstream dams on the major rivers, including the Salween and Irrawaddy, "due to concerns over environmental impacts."

However, it disagreed with the IFC's recommendation to build dams on tributaries instead, including the Nam Teng and Pawn tributaries of the Salween, which lie in conflict-affected areas of Shan and Karenni states, she said.

"We, BRN, welcome the report of the World Bank and the IFC, but strongly oppose their recommendations to build dams on tributaries, because the tributaries are also important in preserving the ecological health of the river basin and in sustaining the livelihoods of countless ethnic communities," said Mi Ah Chai.

"This is not development for us, as the prolonged war and suffering there are due to the dam projects, which are in conflict zones," she added.

BRN also urged the government to review existing hydropower projects to determine whether they are actually benefiting the local communities, and to stop any new planned projects until there is genuine peace and a federal system in place.

"When we discuss peace, people talk about the NCA, but we have not achieved peaceful livelihoods in many places yet," Mi Ah Chai said.

The post Karen Villagers Protest Hatgyi Dam, Other Projects on Salween River appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Workshop Promotes Gender Equality in a Federal System

Posted: 14 Mar 2018 06:06 AM PDT

YANGON — Civil society representatives discussed how to improve gender equality and empower women, girls and sexual minorities in a federal system during a two-day workshop in Yangon that wrapped up on Wednesday.

The Gender and Federalism workshop was organized by the Forum of Federations (FoF), a global network on federalism and devolved governance, and drew some 70 representatives from local non-government groups working on gender equality, governance and peace.

FoF gender officer Ma Phyo Nay Chi said the forum aimed to promote the idea that gender issues be taken into account in the formation of a federal system.

"Gender equality is important under all systems. Gender issues needs to be taken into consideration along with the creation of federalism," she said.

A pilot workshop on gender and federalism was held in Yangon in September, followed by the first official workshop in Mandalay in January.

Ma Phyo Nay Chi said the FoF also planned to conduct similar workshops in other states and regions.

Establishing a federal state was one of the ruling National League for Democracy party's 2015 election promises. In its election manifesto, it pledged to work for a genuine federal union built on the principles of equal rights.

"In building a federal union, we need to consider addressing gender inequalities and ensure women's rights within the system," Ma Phyo Nay Chi said.

She said a decentralized system would allow for greater recognition of different cultures but cautioned that in such a system some of those cultures might encourage inequality between genders.

Professor Sandeep Shastri from India, one of the speakers at the workshop, stressed that empowering women and ending gender discrimination within a federal framework required the uniform application of policy across the country at all levels of government.

Ma Aye Mya Hnin Phyu, from the Alliance for Gender Inclusion in the Peace Process, said it was also important to increase women’s participation in the peace process while at the same time building up the capacity of those women taking part.

"There are similarities between federalism and gender equality — both prioritize equity and justice. But we need to be patient with both processes," she told The Irrawaddy.

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Group to Launch T-Shirt Campaign Against Sexual Violence

Posted: 14 Mar 2018 02:55 AM PDT

YANGON — Activists are calling for harsher penalties for sex offenders amid a significant increase in the number of reported rapes of women and children across the country.

Stop Sexual Violence, a group of activists lobbying for severe punishment as a deterrent against rape, held a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday to introduce a T-shirt campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence.

The campaign, the group’s second since 2016, calls for increasing penalties for sex offenders, imposing punishments besides prison, and denying sex offenders pardon or amnesty.

"We want lengthy prison sentences imposed on sex offenders, child rapists and those who rape and murder, for example, 70 or 80 years in prison without amnesty," Ko Zeyar Tun, a member of the campaign group, told The Irrawaddy.

The group also plans to present its demands to Parliament, he said.

Ko Zeyar Tun cited dozens of cases in which sex offenders were released from prison after serving less than 10 years thanks to amnesties and good behavior credits despite receiving sentences of 20 years to life.

The campaign has been joined by the artist Smile.

"I have joined this group as an artist and as a mother,” she said. “We expect to see some changes if we push together."

She and other celebrities, lawyers, lawmakers and politicians will attend the launch of the campaign, to be held Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Kandawgyi Hmaw Sin Kyun.

"We oppose any form of sexual violence. Anyone can join us to show their opposition to it. We hope that this event will make the government take some action to stop sexual violence," said Ko Aung Chantha, another member of the campaign group.

The Home Affairs Ministry recorded 305 more rape cases in 2017 than the year before, 226 of them against children under 16 years old. Most child rape cases were reported in Yangon, Irrawaddy, Mandalay, Bago and Sagaing regions.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Hundreds Displaced by Latest Fighting Between Rival Armed Groups in Shan State

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 11:55 PM PDT

YANGON — More than 800 residents of Namtu, Kyaukme and Namhsan townships in northern Shan State have been displaced by recent fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

Nang Sen Nom, a Shan State lawmaker representing Namtu Township, said more than 330 residents from several villages in her constituency had fled the latest fighting, which started Saturday, and were taking shelter at monasteries in the area.

"More than 100 are taking shelter at the Manhong Monastery in Mansan Village and another 200 are at the Poppa Yon Monastery," she said.

On Monday, nearly 500 residents of Na Sai and Pan Law villages fled to another village after RCSS and TNLA soldiers clashed nearby.

Seventy more villagers from the Na Sai village tract were forced to leave their homes on Tuesday as the clashes continued, Nang Sen Nom said.

Fighting was taking place near the village of Bein Tun, in Namtu Township, and along the border between Kyaukme and Namhsan townships, TNLA information officer Mai Ai Kyaw told the Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

"There were skirmishes on March 13, but I don't know the details," Mai Ai Kyaw said.

RCSS Lieutenant Colonel Sai Oo declined to comment on the fighting.

Mai Ai Kyaw said the TNLA and RCSS had previously agreed to hold talks but were yet to set a date.

"We sent them [the RCSS] a letter to hold talks some time last week, but they haven't replied yet," said Mai Ai Kyaw.

Nang Sen Nom said the displaced people were in need of food, clothes and shelter.

The RCSS is one of the original eight signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. The TNLA has not signed the agreement and is considered an insurgent group by the Myanmar army.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Govt Seeks International Cooperation to Combat Terrorism

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 11:16 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Union Parliament on Monday approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that aims to strengthen the ASEAN-Australia Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism.

Five lawmakers discussed in favor of President U Htin Kyaw's proposal to sign the MoU, which called for increased collaboration between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia against shared challenges of terrorism and violent extremism.

Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe said the signing of the MoU will allow for the exchange of information on terrorists and help Myanmar acquire technical support from Australia in tracking the activities of terrorist organizations and their background history.

"Myanmar will therefore be able to take a more active role in counter-terrorism activates not only in the region but also on the international front," said Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe.

"I recommend the signing of the MOU because it is in line with the new government's policy," said U Zarni Min, a lawmaker from Kachin State's Shwegu Township.

Daw Htoot May of Rakhine Constituency (11) said, "Foreign extremist organizations are funding and supporting the perpetuation of violence in Rakhine State. There is a need for Myanmar to cooperate with the international community to address this as well as the potential threat of terrorism in the future."

The declaration aims to formulate a framework for cooperation to prevent, disrupt and combat international terrorism through the exchange and flow of information and intelligence, as well as capacity building.

Meanwhile, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will pay an official to visit Australia in days at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. She will also attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit to be held in Sydney on March 17-18.

A business summit and counter-terrorism conference will also be held on the sidelines of the special summit. Minister for the Office of the Union Government and National Security Adviser U Thaung Tun will lead Myanmar's delegation to the counter-terrorism conference.

Myanmar enacted laws and rules on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) in 2014 and 2015 and is a signatory to 13 United Nations conventions on terrorism, according to state-run newspapers.

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Physicist Stephen Hawking, Who Conquered the Stars, Dies at 76

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 11:00 PM PDT

Stephen Hawking, who sought to explain some of the most complicated questions of life while himself working under the shadow of a likely premature death, has died at 76.

The UK’s Press Association reported his death, citing a spokesman for the family.

Hawking’s formidable mind probed the very limits of human understanding both in the vastness of space and in the bizarre sub-molecular world of quantum theory, which he said could predict what happens at the beginning and end of time.

His work ranged from the origins of the universe itself, through the tantalizing prospect of time travel to the mysteries of space’s all-consuming black holes.

But the power of his intellect contrasted cruelly with the weakness of his body, ravaged by the wasting motor neuron disease he contracted at the age of 21.

Hawking was confined for most of his life to a wheelchair. As his condition worsened, he had to resort to speaking through a voice synthesizer and communicating by moving his eyebrows.

The disease spurred him to work harder but also contributed to the collapse of his two marriages, he wrote in a 2013 memoir “My Brief History.”

In the book he related how he was first diagnosed: “I felt it was very unfair — why should this happen to me,” he wrote.

“At the time, I thought my life was over and that I would never realize the potential I felt I had. But now, 50 years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life.”

Hawking shot to international fame after the 1988 publication of “A Brief History of Time,” one of the most complex books ever to achieve mass appeal, which stayed on the Sunday Times bestsellers list for no fewer than 237 weeks.

He said he wrote the book to convey his own excitement over recent discoveries about the universe.

“My original aim was to write a book that would sell on airport bookstalls,” he told reporters at the time. “In order to make sure it was understandable I tried the book out on my nurses. I think they understood most of it.”

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Australia to Stress International Law in South China Sea Dispute

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 09:56 PM PDT

SYDNEY — Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will on Tuesday hail the role of international law in settling regional conflicts, comments apparently aimed at bolstering Australian efforts to build a coalition against Chinese assertiveness.

Bishop, in a speech ahead of a special meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sydney, will not name China but will argue that international law will stabilize a region strained by rival claims in the South China Sea.

“The rules-based order is designed to regulate behavior and rivalries of and between states, and ensure countries compete fairly and in a way that does not threaten others or destabilize their region or the world,” Bishop will say in Sydney, according to a leaked draft of the speech seen by the Australian Financial Review.

“It places limitations on the extent to which countries use their economic or military power to impose unfair agreements on less powerful nations.”

China claims most of the South China Sea, an important trade route that is believed to contain large quantities of oil and natural gas, and has been building artificial islands on reefs, some with ports and airstrips.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, all of which are members of ASEAN, and Taiwan also have claims in the sea.

Australia, a staunch US ally with no claim to the South China Sea, has long maintained its neutrality on the dispute to protect economic relationship with China.

But with Australia’s relations with China souring in recent months, Bishop’s comments underscore a new Australian tactic.

“Australia is trying to get ASEAN on side with the notion that China is a rule-breaker that everyone would be better served by abiding by,” said Nick Bisley, professor of international relations at Melbourne's La Trobe University.

“If it can get ASEAN to use that language, it will strengthen Australia’s position considerably.”

ASEAN and China in August begun talks to develop a code of conduct for the South China Sea, though a deal is unlikely before 2019, Singapore’s Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said in February.

The issue of the South China Sea is set to dominate the unofficial agenda of a special three-day meeting of ASEAN countries and Australia beginning on Friday.

Officially, the summit will focus on fostering closer economic ties among the 10 members ASEAN and Australia, and countering the threat of Islamist militants returning to the region from the Middle East.

Myanmar leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to travel to Sydney where she will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is under pressure to publicly condemn the deaths and expulsion of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar’s Rakhine State over recent months.

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Trump’s Pick for New CIA Chief Dogged by Secret Prisons

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 09:40 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — Gina Haspel, the veteran CIA undercover officer President Donald Trump picked on Tuesday to head the agency, is supported by many in the US intelligence community but has faced criticism for overseeing a secret CIA prison in Thailand where detainees were tortured.

Intelligence officers who served with her, and congressional officials said that in 2002, during Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, she was responsible for the secret prison code-named “Cat’s Eye.” Two suspected members of the al Qaeda militant group were subjected to waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques at the facility.

Three years later, still during Bush’s presidency, she carried out an order to destroy videotapes of the waterboarding, which simulates drowning and is considered a form of torture, according to those people.

Haspel is generally held in high regard at the CIA, working as deputy director under Mike Pompeo, whom Trump nominated to be the next secretary of state on Tuesday after firing Rex Tillerson from the post.

If confirmed by the Senate, Haspel would become the first woman to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. But she could face close scrutiny in her confirmation hearings over her involvement in “black site” facilities, so called because their existence is unacknowledged by the US government.

Her nomination faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, which Trump’s fellow Republicans control 51-49. She could be opposed by all the Democrats, and some Republicans may also oppose her, including Senator Rand Paul, who has called a news conference on Wednesday to discuss the nomination.

“The torture of detainees in US custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” said Republican Senator John McCain, who was himself tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “Ms. Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process.”

In 2009, days after taking office, Democratic President Barack Obama banned “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including waterboarding, and ordered the closure of the secret detention sites.

Trump defended the torture of detainees during the 2016 presidential race, saying it “works.” He has not taken any action to reverse Obama’s policy, but Haspel’s nomination will fan concerns.

‘Reopen Wounds'

“This is going to reopen wounds from a decade and more ago, and also invite more oversight of both our analyses and our activities, especially if Gina is confirmed,” said one US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday, some US intelligence officials said reports of her alleged involvement in interrogations involving torture were false. But they did not immediately provide details.

They did not dispute her involvement in drafting orders to destroy videotapes of harsh interrogation techniques, which was reported in the book “Hard Measures,” by Jose Rodriguez, her boss in the agency at the time, and former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.

A CIA spokesman had no immediate comment.

Democrats voiced opposition, including their top person on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, who said senators had “a lot of questions” about Haspel and they “deserved to have those questions answered, in an open hearing setting.”

Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, promised to support her nomination and said he was “proud” of her work.

If confirmed, Haspel would face immediate tests on policy, said three current intelligence officials. One is whether she and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis can prepare Trump adequately for his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second, they said, is if she can help persuade Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin is an increasingly aggressive adversary, and that failing to confront him would weaken US relations with its closest allies and with the CIA’s most valuable partners.

“She may face the same tough choice that Tillerson and others have faced: Stick to your convictions or knuckle under to keep your job,” a fourth official said.

Iran is a third test, those officials said. The US intelligence assessment is that the 2015 deal to curb Iran’s nuclear weapons program is on balance a good one, and that Trump’s criticism of it threatens efforts to constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions and ties with the other nations that negotiated the pact, China, France, Germany, Britain and Russia.

Some current and former CIA officials said they saw some benefit to naming an insider to head the agency.

“There is no question that a director leaving after a year is very turbulent for the agency,” said former CIA Director Michael Hayden. “That said, leaving Gina and making her the actual director will have a very positive calming influence.”

Trump told reporters he had worked closely with Haspel and considered her “an outstanding person.”

Haspel has served in a number of undercover overseas posts, including as chief of the CIA’s station in London and its base in New York. Then-CIA Director John Brennan in 2013 named her deputy director of National Clandestine Service, but she was denied a permanent promotion in the face of congressional opposition.

Daniel Hoffman, a former three-time station chief for the CIA, praised Haspel and said her nomination sent a powerful message inside the agency because she came up from the lower ranks.

“She's somebody who tries to bring disparate elements together,” the kind of collaboration that is important in intelligence work, said Hoffman. “She's got the highest level of intellectual integrity and honesty.”

The post Trump's Pick for New CIA Chief Dogged by Secret Prisons appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippine Leader Demands Review of Dropped Cases vs Alleged Drug Kingpins

Posted: 13 Mar 2018 09:38 PM PDT

MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a review of a decision by state prosecutors to dismiss complaints against several suspected drugs kingpins, amid outrage among the public and some of his allies about them walking free.

A Department of Justice panel, citing weak evidence, cleared 22 suspects in a decision they made in December but was made public only on Monday in a document leaked to media. A self-confessed drug dealer was among those cleared.

Duterte has publicly named and shamed several provincial politicians and businessmen as “drug lords” controlling the narcotics trade in the Southeast Asian nation. Some have been killed in what police said were shootouts.

“I will invoke my power of supervision and control and will review [the] dismissal,” Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, quoted the president as saying during a joint command conference with police and military officials on Tuesday evening.

Police insisted on Wednesday they had strong cases against the suspects.

Among those cleared were businessman Peter Go Lim and Kerwin Espinosa, who was arrested by Abu Dhabi police in October 2016.

Espinosa’s father, Rolando, a mayor in central Leyte province, was killed in what police said was a gunfight in his prison cell three months after he surrendered in August 2016 to answer drugs charges.

Kerwin Espinosa is a self-confessed drug dealer who revealed his suppliers at a Senate hearing in 2016.

Duterte has warned he would put Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre in jail if both Lim and Espinosa go free, Roque said.

Aguirre said in a radio interview the panel’s decision was not final and still subject to an appeal and an automatic review by his office.

However, he said a new panel of prosecutors would be created to review and strengthen the case against the suspects.

More than 4,000 people have been killed under Duterte’s 19-month anti-narcotics campaign in what police call legitimate operations against “drug personalities” they say violently resisted arrest.

Police have blamed mysterious vigilantes for about 2,300 drug-related homicides.

Duterte’s critics have said many of those killed were small-time drug dealers and users from poor communities, while the so-called big fish, or main suppliers, remained at large.

The post Philippine Leader Demands Review of Dropped Cases vs Alleged Drug Kingpins appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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