I have recently spoken to my client, Rep. Arnie Teves, regarding the circumstances of his arrest. I have also conferred with his legal team in Timor Leste (TL) led by former East Timor Minister of Justice Tiago Amaral Sarmento and former Timorese Prosecutor-General Jose Ximenes, so that I may be apprised of the latest developments in the case.
I will have to invoke lawyer-client privilege as to my conversation with Mr. Teves. As far as the legal process concerning his detention of concerned, as explained to me by his lawyers in TL, the arrest was made under the laws of TL preliminarily and administratively as a matter of course, after which Rep. Teves will be turned over to the court for a twenty-day trial in which evidence may be adduced on this behalf in order to determine what will be done relative to any request of the Marcos government.
It must be emphasized that Mr. Teves’ arrest in TL is not indicative of his guilt in any case in the Philippines, nor was it because of violation of any law of TL, but simply because of the mechanisms inherent in the system of the Interpol. Therefore, any references as to terrorism, criminal acts or any other inferences committed by Rep. Teves, or any implication that he is already guilty thereof, is not only premature but injudicious and ignorant as well. We understand the government’s attempts to play up this incident as a diversion to cover up its lack of concrete achievements and the discontent of the vast majority of our people. We will just wait for the DOJ’s rude awakening which will happen soon enough as its cases against Teves continue to collapse under the weight of lies and fabrications, just like wild animals in their death throes making the most noise just before they die.
