Thursday, December 06, 2007 Editorials: Sobriety in pursuing Aves’ cases
THE arrest of alleged Alpha Kappa Rho hitman and drive-by shooting suspect Aristotle Aves should be considered as one of the major accomplishments of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) this year.
With all the crimes that the CCPO attributed to Aves, he naturally became one of the ten most wanted persons in Cebu city, making his capture difficult to downplay.
The effect of Aves’ “demonization” can be seen in the lack of uproar over the physical harm he suffered for reportedly resisting arrest inside an Ormoc-bound vessel.
A relative of one of his alleged victims even wanted him hanged and shot there and then for the crimes he committed, which is normal reaction of people pained by the loss of a loved one.
Legal processes
It is in situations like this, however, that the danger of committing injustice presents itself and the rights of the accused, in this case Aves, gets lost in the passing.
No matter how convinced people are that Aves perpetrated the crimes attributed to him, the justice system considers him innocent until he is proven guilty by the court.
Thus, he should be allowed to avail of legal remedies available to him and his relatives should not be condemned or ridiculed for claiming he is “not a cruel person.”
Court’s role
People may not like it, but every crime attributed to Aves will still be subjected to deeper scrutiny by the courts---and only after legal processes have been exhausted that he can be pronounced guilty or innocent with certainty.
While it is possible Aves did commit all of the crimes attributed to him, it is not also impossible that he did not do any of them or perpetrated only some of them.
Everything will depend on the evidence and testimonies that will be presented by the prosecution in court and the kind of defense that Aves’ lawyers will eventually put up.
Sobriety
This is not to say Aves should be treated leniently or even freed, rather, this is a call for sobriety and for the objective evaluation of his cases to ensure real justice will be served.
Surely, even relatives of the victims do not want the wrong people punished, if ever.
