Cebu media lawyers assail 'massive assault on press freedom' in Maguindanao
CEBU CITY
The Cebu Medial Legal Aid (CEMLA), a group of lawyers in Cebu City who have committed themselves to the protection of journalists’ rights, has branded the massacre of 57 people, including 34 journalists, as an “enormous assault on press freedom.”
In a statement released to the Philippines News Agency (PNA) Thursday, the CEMLA also “demanded that the apparatus of law and order and the wheels of justice move swiftly, unimpeded by the guiles of wealth and power.”
The statement reads in full:
”Ignore if you may the enormous assault on press freedom. Just consider the total breakdown of law and order when a group of assassins can execute 57 helpless people, 34 of whom were journalists, in one fell swoop. Just think if criminals like the Maguindanao killers, given the problems that hobble our justice system, can get away with it.
”The Maguindanao massacre already stands out for its sadistic brutality and cruelty and utter contempt of the state's will. What may still enhance its record of inhumanity is when the Government fails to mete out the punishment the perpetrators justly deserve.
”We don't call for the lynching of the suspects although many of our people may want that. We demand though that the apparatus of law and order and the wheels of justice move swiftly, unimpeded by the guiles of wealth and power.”
One of the suspects in the gruesome massacre, Maguindanao Mayor Andal "Unsay" Ampatuan Jr. has surrendered to Presidential Adviser on Mindanao Affairs Jesus Dureza and has been charged with multiple counts of murder. (PNA)
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