Saturday, April 19, 2008
SC told to stop trial of Perez (3:25 p.m.)
MANILA -- Just two days after his indictment, former justice secretary Hernani Perez has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Office of the Ombudsman from prosecuting him in connection with the graft, extortion and falsification charges filed by former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez.
Perez, the first justice secretary of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was charged before the Sandiganbayan along with his wife Rosario, brother-in-law Ramon Arceo and business associate Ernest Escaler after the ombudsman found probable cause in the complaint filed by Jimenez that they tried to extort US$2 million from the former lawmaker in February 2001.
This was allegedly in exchange for the dropping of Jimenez's name from the list of respondents liable for the anomalous US$470-million deal with the Argentinian firm Impsa (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona, SA) for the rehabilitation of the 750-megawatt Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) power plant in Laguna, which Jimenez, then presidential adviser for Latin affairs, brokered.
In his petition, the Perezes asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or a writ of preliminary injunction enjoining the ombudsman from further proceeding in the prosecution of cases against him and the three other accused until the merits of the case has been decided by the court. (ECV/Sunnex)
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