MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 17, 2012) – A Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia continues to suffer in prison despite the completion of his is jail term and has appealed to the Philippine government to provide him a lawyer to defend him in court pending the resolution of the private aspect of the one million rial embezzlement case filed against him by his employer.
The Filipino migrants’ rights group called Migrante-Middle East said the man – who worked as a salesman for 16 years for a company in Dammam that sells concrete – was allegedly forced to sign a document written in Arabic in 2009 which Saudi authorities claimed were an admission to the crime.
John Leonard Monterona, Migrante regional coordinator, said a Saudi court sentenced the Filipino to one year and 6 months in prison, and 250 lashes of cane. His employer also demanded one million rials, but raised this for five million rials.
“What is appalling on his case is that the OFW was not provided a local lawyer who should represent and defend him in court during hearings. He already completed his jail term covering the public rights aspect,” Monterona said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Monterona said they came to know the case only on August this year. “We certainly believed that he was a victim of a trumped-up charge noting that he had filed a resignation letter prior to the filing of a case against him and he expected to get his end of service benefits after working for 16 years,” he said.
Monterona said they already conveyed to Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis the case and requested the Philippine official to provide the Filipino with a lawyer so he can defend himself.
“As we all knew there is no undersecretary yet for Migrant Workers Affairs of the DFA, thus we coursed through our request to Usec. Seguis who has always been cooperative to us especially cases of distress OFWs and those in jail,” Monterona said.
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