The wife of Oscar-winning actor George Clooney – international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney – has been asked to fight for former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over the court’s denial to allow her to post bail for her provisional liberty.
Arroyo’s lawyers—Larry Gadon and Modesto Ticman Jr. – said they have sought the help of Mrs. Clooney to bring the case of Arroyo to the United Nations Human Rights Council so she could be freed from hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
Gadon said they provided Mrs. Clooney with all the facts of the plunder and graft suits filed against Arroyo on alleged misuse of the confidential funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The lawyers said they had talked to Mrs. Clooney via teleconference.
They said they initiated to get in touch with the international human rights lawyer.
“In citing the government’s violations insofar as Article 9 is concerned, the complaint said the prosecution failed to establish any legitimate ground denying bail and that there has been undue delay in bringing the former president to trial,” according to ABS-CBN online news quoting the Arroyo’s camp.
Arroyo’s lawyer also complained that their client’s petition for bail was disregarded by the court for more than 10 months.
They asked Mrs. Clooney if she could file the case under “urgent action procedure” or a “regular procedure.”
Under the urgent action procedure, the UN working group could send an appeal to the Aquino administration to “free PGMA from detention on humanitarian considerations,” and that communications with the government would be confidential and not shared with the complainant or her counsel.
Under the regular procedure, “the initiation of the regular communications procedure will result in complainant’s or counsel’s ability to provide comment on any government response received in this case as well as the rendering of an opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on the arbitrary nature of the detention.
According to the online news, Mrs. Clooney said the Philippine government has violated Articles 9, 14, 19 and 25 in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and that those responsible for such violations must be sanctioned.
Mrs. Clooney is former adviser to the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
She wanted the UN to intervene for a full investigation of the charges Arroyo is facing before the Sandiganbayan and for immediate release, and a free access to use of communications. The Philippine government must also amend its laws onnon-bailable cases, according to her.
Mrs. Clooney was just recently invited by the Columbia University to be a visiting professor at its Law School.