MANILA: Jailed Philippine human rights campaigner Leila de Lima was briefly taken hostage on Sunday during an attempted breakout by three detained militants who were shot dead by police, authorities said.
The incident happened at the national police headquarters, where de Lima, a former senator, has been held for more than five years with other high-profile detainees.
A police officer handing out breakfast was stabbed with a fork by an inmate, who then freed two others from their cells.
Two of the prisoners were shot dead by a sniper, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos told reporters.
The third prisoner ran to de Lima’s cell. He tied up and blindfolded the 63-year-old before a police officer shot him in the head, Abalos said.
De Lima said the inmate held her at knifepoint and threatened to kill her. She credited the police with saving her life.
“Being so near death has only made me value life even more,” she said in a statement.
Police said the situation inside the detention facility had “returned to normal” and an investigation was underway.
Police chief General Rodolfo Azurin said the three inmates were members of the militant group Abu Sayyaf, which has been accused of kidnapping and beheading several foreigners.
De Lima did not appear to have been the target, Azurin told local radio station DZBB.
“They saw her as an ideal cover. Their intention really was to escape,” he said.
De Lima was unhurt, Boni Tacardon, her lawyer, confirmed. “She was brought to the hospital for the standard medical check-up,” Tacardon said. “But based on the information given to us by our staff who’s with the senator now, she appears OK.”
De Lima, an outspoken critic of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly drug war, is due to appear in court on Monday.
She has been behind bars since 2017 on drug trafficking charges that she and human rights groups have called a mockery of justice and payback for going after Duterte.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took power in June, there have been renewed calls from diplomats and rights defenders for de Lima to be released.
The latest incident underscored the need for her to be “freed immediately”, said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch.
Marcos tweeted that he would speak to de Lima “to check on her condition and to ask if she wishes to be transferred to another detention centre”. But Tacardon said de Lima did not want to be transferred. — AFP
