Massacre accused pleads not guilty

THE MAN accused of masterminding the Philippines’ worst single episode of political violence pleaded not guilty yesterday in a trial that many believe will test the country’s entire justice system.

Andal Ampatuan jnr is charged with plotting and leading the November mass execution of 57 people, including lawyers, over 30 journalists and at least one pregnant woman.

The group was on its way to register a rival electoral candidate in Mindanao, southern Philippines, when it was attacked by about 100 armed men who prosecutors say were part of a private army employed by the Ampatuan clan.

Ampatuan and his father Andal snr, a notoriously brutal clan leader who dominates the province of Maguindanao, are believed to have ordered the attack to stop political rival Esmael Mangudadatu from registering as candidate for provincial governor.

“This is the first step to our inner peace,” said Mr Mangudadatu, who was in the courtroom in the capital, Manila, to hear the suspect charged with 41 counts of murder. Mr Ampatuan pleaded not guilty and applied for bail through his lawyer Sigfrid Fortun.

Mr Mangudadatu’s wife, sister and other relatives were killed and their bodies dumped in a shallow grave. Witnesses quoted widely in Philippine newspapers say Andal jnr was present at the massacre and helped carry it out.

Mr Ampatuan wore a bulletproof vest and was flanked by about 30 heavily-armed police officers to protect him from angry spectators, including relatives of the victims and dozens of journalists brandishing pictures of their dead colleagues. The trial is expected to be one of the most expensive and drawn-out in the country’s history.

The Ampatuans were close political allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the trial is likely to be carefully watched for signs of political interference. The clan helped deliver thousands of votes to Mrs Arroyo in the 2004 and 2007 general elections. She has distanced herself from them since the massacre and promised to bring them to justice.

Andal jnr was jostled during a preliminary hearing but appeared unconcerned yesterday as the charges were read out, at one stage enraging relatives of the victims by yawning loudly.