ANGELES CITY, Pampanga -- A police officer
here has been sentenced to two years in prison for torturing a drug suspect.
The conviction of
Police Officer 2 Jerick Dee Jimenez is the first for violation of
Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act, according to the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR).
The testimony of
Jerryme Corre that he was tortured by Jimenez is “positive and
categorical,” stated the ruling issued by Angeles City trial court Judge
Irineo Pangilinan on Tuesday that the CHR released April 1.
The court also ordered
Jimenez to pay P100,000 in moral damages to Corre.
Corre said Jimenez
beat him up when they arrested him at his house on Jan. 10, 2012.
He said Jimenez also
subjected him to electric shock and water cure at the police station to force
him to admit that he is a thief and that he killed a police officer.
In his defense,
Jimenez said there was nothing irregular in Corre’s arrest.
He submitted a
medico-legal report, which showed that there was “no significant finding”
during Corre’s examination.
The court, however,
gave weight to the evidence presented by the prosecution, including the photos
showing the bruises and wounds that Corre sustained.
Corre’s partner took
the photos on the day he was arrested.
A medical examination
conducted by the CHR also disputed Jimenez’s argument.
“The victim and
witnesses have been subjected to lengthy and rigid cross-examinations by an
able and competent counsel. Any deliberate falsehood in their testimonies
could have been easily detected and exposed,” Pangilinan stated in his
ruling.
“The credibility of
their declarations has not been shaken much less destroyed by the
searching questions of the cross-examiner,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment