Monday, January 08, 2007
SC asked to return convicted Marine from US custody (7:30 p.m.)
MANILA -- A Filipino woman who won a rape case against a US Marine asked the Philippine Supreme Court Monday to order his return to Philippine custody, saying his detention at the US Embassy violates the country's Constitution.
The woman's lawyer, Evalyn Ursua, argued that an agreement between Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo and US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, which authorized Lance Corporal Daniel Smith's transfer from a local jail to the US Embassy last month, was invalid as, under the Constitution, the United States cannot keep custody of people convicted in a Philippine court.
The Philippine and US governments have agreed, however, that Smith's transfer to the custody of the embassy, while he appeals his conviction and a 40-year prison sentence, is necessary because of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement. (AP) |
