Batasan blast suspect released from detention after posting bail

By Ronron
December 4, 2007

A suspect in the bombing last November 13 at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City was released from detention in Camp Crame, Quezon City last Monday night after posting bail.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) lawyer Virgilio Pablico said Hajarun Jamiri, the former mayor of Tuburan, Basilan, was released from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center past 6pm after posting bail in the amount of P80,000.

Pablico said the bail was for his case of illegal possession of firearm filed before a Manila City court, and not for the multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder cases in relation to the Batasan blast that killed five people, including Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, and injured more than 10 others.

“On his multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder case, the preliminary investigation (at the Department of Justice) is still ongoing. He is not yet cleared of that,” Pablico said.

Pablico said Jamiri is one of the three accused who said that the blast was actually an assassination plot against Akbar masterminded allegedly by former Basilan Rep. Gerry Salappudin, Anak Mindanao Party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman, and the latter’s brother, Jim Hataman.

The motive is allegedly politics, noting that Akbar’s wives have taken power in some localities in Basilan.

However, upon the release of Jamiri the other night, his lawyer, Eduardo Arriba, claimed that the former mayor was actually just pressured by police to name Salappudin and the two Hatamans as the main suspects.

Arriba said Jamiri “signed involuntarily” an affidavit prepared by the CIDG that named the Hatamans and Salappudin as masterminds.

“He was forced to sign the affidavit,” Arriba said.

Asked for more details on this and if Jamiri was tortured to do that, Arriba just said, however, to await the counter-affidavit that Jamiri will file before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to the multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder cases.

Sought for his comment on the claim of Jamiri’s lawyer, PNP chief Gen. Avelino Razon, Jr. said: “He is changing his statements from time to time. At first, he agreed to sign his statement. And now, he is disowning it. But that is not true (that he was forced to sign a PNP-prepared statement) because anything that we have that is a result of duress will not be accepted eventually in court.”/DMS