HUMAN Rights Watch, an international nongovernmental organization, slammed the Duterte administration on Tuesday over the arrest of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on what it labeled as “trumped-up charges” of rebellion in connection with the 2007 Manila Peninsula seige.
“The arrest today of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is part of the persecution of critics of the Duterte administration, the latest in the relentless campaign to silence those who dared to challenge the president’s murderous ‘drug war,” the group said in a statement.
It recalled the “demonization and eventual incarceration” of another staunch critic of the administration, Sen. Leila de Lima, who has been detained since February 2017 on charges of being involved in the illegal drug trade.