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Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Philippine court says US rapist must leave embassy
The Philippine Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that a US Marine convicted of raping a Filipina must be transferred out of his detention facility in the US embassy, a court official said.
Philippine court says US rapist must leave embassy
The Philippine Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that a US Marine convicted of raping a Filipina must be transferred out of his detention facility in the US embassy, a court official said.
The official, who asked not be identified, said the court had decided Lance Corporal Daniel Smith should be detained in a facility under the Philippine government's control and that the US embassy did not qualify as such a place.
Smith was sentenced to 40 years in jail in 2006 for raping a Filipina after military exercises north of Manila in 2005.
He was initially detained at a local jail pending an appeal, but was later transferred to a detention facility inside the US embassy.
Smith's conviction prompted Washington to threaten to call off large-scale exercises with Manila until Smith was transferred to the detention centre within the sprawling embassy compound on Manila Bay.
The rape case has outraged nationalist and leftist groups, who are demanding that Smith be held in a local jail.
Despite two years in detention at the US embassy Smith is still waiting for his appeal to be heard.
The court said that under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) governing the presence of US forces in this country, US servicemen convicted of crimes in this country should be held by Philippine authorities.
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Philippine court says US rapist must leave embassy
The Philippine Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that a US Marine convicted of raping a Filipina must be transferred out of his detention facility in the US embassy, a court official said.
The official, who asked not be identified, said the court had decided Lance Corporal Daniel Smith should be detained in a facility under the Philippine government's control and that the US embassy did not qualify as such a place.
Smith was sentenced to 40 years in jail in 2006 for raping a Filipina after military exercises north of Manila in 2005.
He was initially detained at a local jail pending an appeal, but was later transferred to a detention facility inside the US embassy.
Smith's conviction prompted Washington to threaten to call off large-scale exercises with Manila until Smith was transferred to the detention centre within the sprawling embassy compound on Manila Bay.
The rape case has outraged nationalist and leftist groups, who are demanding that Smith be held in a local jail.
Despite two years in detention at the US embassy Smith is still waiting for his appeal to be heard.
The court said that under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) governing the presence of US forces in this country, US servicemen convicted of crimes in this country should be held by Philippine authorities.
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