IKINATUWA ni ACT Rep. France Castro ang pagbasura sa kasong kriminal na isinampa sa public school teacher na si Ronnel Mas, ang nag-alok ng P50 milyong reward sa kung sino ang makakakapatay kay Pangulong Duterte.
“We will continue to fight the attacks on free speech and the state’s effort to censor the people. We will continue to fight the state’s attacks on the basic human rights amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” ani Castro.
Nagpasalamat din ang lady solon sa Free Legal Assistance Group at kay Atty. Dino de Leon na tumulong kay Mas.
“The Duterte administration has been determined to silence all those who criticize and oppose anti-people policies. President Duterte is so allergic to criticism and any form of dissent that his administration targets even social media posts by ordinary people showing their discontent on how the government is handling this pandemic,” dagdag pa ni Castro.
Ibinasura ng Regional Trial Court branch 72 ng Olongapo City ang kasong Inciting to Sedition in relation to Cybercrime law na inihain kay Mas dahil sa iligal umanong pag-aresto rito.
“Settled is the rule that jurisdiction over the person of the accused is acquired either his arrest or voluntary appearance in court. It is likewise settled that the question of legality of an arrest affects the jurisdiction of the court over the person of the accused. Hence, a court does not acquire jurisdiction over the person of one who is illegally arrested and who question his/her unlawful arrest before arraignment,” saad ng desisyon.
“Considering that accused Mas had timely raised objection to the legality of his arrest before the arraignment and with the findings of this court that accused Mas was indeed unlawfully arrested, this court failed to acquire jurisdiction over his person….. With the quashal of the criminal information for violation of Article 142 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2020), this case is now considered dismissed.”