The two teenagers were killed in 2017, at the height of the bloody war on drugs waged for six years by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
A rare verdict. Even if for the NGO Amnesty International it is a ” drop of water in the ocean “. A Manila court recently ruled that officers Jefrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita tortured two teenagers in 2017. Officers also planted a gun and drugs on one of the victims. Those teenagers – Reynaldo De Guzman, 14, and Carl Arnaiz, 19 – were later killed by the same officers, the court heard.
During the trial, Jefrey Perez was sentenced to life for manipulating evidence and a minimum sentence of 20 years for torture, according to the court’s decision, released Wednesday. The other officer, Ricky Arquilita, died during the trial.
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The teens were last seen together on the evening of August 17, 2017. Hours later, a witness saw a police cruiser parked on the side of a road. He said he saw Arnaiz, handcuffed, get out of the vehicle, kneel down, raise his hands and shout “I surrender” before Perez shot him. De Guzman’s body was found weeks later north of Manila. He bore the marks of dozens of stab wounds. ” There is no doubt that the bruises and wounds on the various parts of the victims’ bodies caused them intense pain and exhaustion before they were killed. “, said the court.
The six-year term of the Philippine president, which ended in June, was marked by a bloody “war on drugs” which left more than 6,200 dead, according to official figures. But according to human rights groups, the actual number of people killed is in the tens of thousands. The crackdown was widely condemned and sparked an international investigation, but only three police officers were convicted for the murder of a suspect.
(With AFP)