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Families of detained Pharmally execs ask CHR to investigate Senate's human rights 'violations'
Families of detained Pharmally execs ask CHR to investigate Senate's human rights 'violations'
The families of three Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation executives have asked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the alleged human rights violations committed by the Senate against Mohit and Twinkle Dargani and Linconn Ong.
The three executives were arrested and placed under the custody of the Senate last year during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation on alleged anomalies on the sale of medical supplies by Pharmally to the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mohit and Ong have since then been transferred to the Pasay City Jail.
Since their arrests, Deepa Chainani and Summer Ong said in the complaint addressed to CHR Commissioner Leah Tanodra-Armamento that there have been various instances where the executives were deprived of basic human rights.
The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms was accused of restricting the access of their lawyers by imposing "tedious and unreasonable conditions." One of the lawyers was even threatened with physical removal from the Senate premises.
Twinkle was reportedly denied medical attention despite suffering from mental health issues. At the same time, the complaint bemoaned the "demeaning treatment" of the three even after they have signified their right to remain silent.
"Their continued detention long after the purpose of their arrest have passed, since they are no longer being questioned and they have made clear that the documents they are being forced to produce are either not in their possession, or that there are legal obstacles to their production," the complaint read.
Moreover, the complainants said that the Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the Blue Ribbon Committee, "used the false pretense of extending the inquiry," therefore delaying the release of the three.
He was even accused of using them as a "campaign tool," since Gordon reportedly used their images as "symbols of corruption" in his campaign ads despite their failure to file proper charges or prove their allegations in the proper court.
"As Senator Gordon tries to boost his campaign at the expense of Linconn and Mohit, our repeated pleas for their release, even on house arrest, continues to fall on deaf ears," they lamented.