Journalists slaughtered: Andal Ampatuan Jr. charged

Near the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines.

1,000 journalists and activists gathered to protest the

massacre in the southern Philippines of 57 civilians,

including at least 30 journalists and their staff in

the deadliest single attack on the media in the world.

Philippines prosecutors charged Andal Ampatuan Jr.

today, he is the heir of a powerful clan, with murder in the massacre

of 57 people, more than half of them journalists and their staff

who were accompanying the family and supporters of an election

candidate November 23.

News quotes:

"At least 10 witnesses will testify they saw Andal

Ampatuan Jr. leading the gunmen, including police

officers, who blocked his rival's election caravan

moments before the Nov. 23 massacre, according to

prosecutor Al Calica. Ampatuan turned himself in last

week and denied the charges. He belongs to a clan

allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that has

ruled southern impoverished Maguindanao province

unopposed for years. His father, the family's

patriarch, and six other family members also are

considered suspects but have not been charged.

Prosecutors initially filed 25 murder charges against

Ampatuan in southern Cotabato city, whose regional

trial court is nearest to the massacre site in Ampatuan

township. The five prosecutors handling the murder

case carried two boxloads of evidence and affidavits

from witnesses from Manila to Cotabato city aboard two

air force helicopters. They are expected to ask the

court to try the case in Manila for security reasons.

"The evidence is strong," Calica said, adding that at

least 10 witnesses provided written testimonies linking

Ampatuan to the killings. He said three of them were

in the convoy carrying journalists and the wife, two

sisters, an aunt and several supporters of Ampatuan's

rival, Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu of Maguindanao's

Buluan township.

What happened?

Mangudadatu had sent his relatives to file his

candidacy papers for governorship. Mangudadatu said

Ampatuan had threatened to chop him to pieces if he

attempted to challenge the Ampatuan family's ironclad

control over the province. So, Mangudadatu sent female

family members in the belief they would not be harmed.

Hours later, troops found the bullet-riddled and hacked

bodies near the highway sprawled in the grass and

hastily buried in three mass graves by a backhoe

together with three vehicles.

Quoting the three witnesses who survived, prosecutor Al

Calica said they managed to turn their cars from the

tail end of the convoy and escaped after shots were

fired and the gunmen hurriedly took control of the vans

and sport utility vehicles in the caravan. Police cars

were parked along the road as the gunmen led the

victims in their vehicles to a remote hilltop where

they were butchered, Calica said. Police said earlier

they took into custody six officers, including the

Maguindanao provincial police chief and his deputy. Two

inspectors among them were allegedly seen during the

massacre with Ampatuan, said Erickson Velasquez, head

of the criminal investigation division.

Premeditated?

Prosecutors said the killings were carefully planned

and that more charges will follow. At least one

witness alleged that the Ampatuan clan had gathered in

the patriarch's mansion in the provincial capital of

Shariff Aguak days before to plan the killings, said

chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuno. The graves were

dug in advance and a backhoe positioned to bury the

bodies, prosecutors said. The Ampatuans denied any

responsibility in the killings in a rare news

conference in Shariff Aguak on Sunday.

Arroyo has declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao

and a neighboring province and ordered troops and

police to confiscate unlincensed weapons and restore

order. But few think the measures will go far enough

in a lawless region notorious for political warlords

that has been outside the central government's control

for generations.

Journalists support

In Manila, about 1,000 journalists and activists

marched Monday to demand justice for the single worst

attack on the media anywhere in the world. Thirty of

the victims were journalists or their staff. The

protesters hackled Arroyo's spokesman Cerge Remonde

when he tried to address them outside the president's

office.

The carnage drew worldwide condemnation, including from

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Europe, the Usa.

The VDO report on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHdE_zXV-u0

FCCJ statement Nov 30th 2009

The Foreign Correspondent Club of Japan Freedom of the

Press Committee condemns the massacre in the Southern

Philippines that resulted in the killing of 57 people,

including 30 journalists and media workers November

23rd 2009.

The Committee conveys our condolences and sympathy to

all journalists in the Philippines and expresses our

solidarity with the National Union of Journalists of

the Philippines (NUJP) in mourning their slain

colleagues and demands that those responsible for such

a heinous act are brought to justice without any delay.

The Committee hopes that this terrible tragedy, the

biggest single atrocity against journalists in recent

history, would compel the government to take prompt

actions to protect journalists and the freedom of the

press in the Philippines.

Foreign Correspondent Club of Japan

Freedom of the Press Committee

More later...