THE LEGAL counsel of the father-and-son victims of a police homicide in 2016 said the Department of Justice (DoJ) had no hand in getting a conviction from a Caloocan City trial court.
“National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer-National Capital Region asked for and was granted authority as private prosecutors, trying this case on our own,” said human rights lawyer Ma. Kristina C. Conti said in a statement.
“We built this case from Day 1 without any material assistance from the DoJ, police or government agencies aside from the Commission on Human Rights),” she added.
She added that no credit is due to the DoJ or the government in the conviction of four cops for homicide in connection with a drug buy-bust operation in Caloocan eight years ago.
“Cases like this don’t get to court if you don’t have private investigation, forensics and defiant witnesses,” Ms. Conti said. “The police did not conduct an autopsy or ballistics examination or seriously inquire into the two deaths in the course of a police operation, and they even got commendations for the operation,” she added.
Justice Undersecretary Margarita N. Gutierrez did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
