The Freeing of Former Philippine Senator Leila de Lima From Jail

After seven years, former Philippine senator Leila de Lima regained her freedom following the courts’ decision to clear her of all charges filed under the time of her nemesis, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

De Lima condemned Duterte's use of extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Senator de Lima opened a Senate Inquiry to investigate the extrajudicial killings and was soon after harassed by then President Duterte and his allies.

The authorities arrested de Lima after she began the human rights investigations under the accusation that de Lima was engaged in drug trafficking herself. Court proceedings against de Lima in the last six years have been marked by undue delays, including the repeated failure of prosecution witnesses to appear in court with some saying they were coerced and threatened by former government officials to fabricate allegations against her.

While de Lima was in jail, various human rights organization estimated that around 30,000 Filipinos were victims of extrajudicial killings during the Duterte presidency.