Leila De Lima: Top Duterte critic arrested on drug charge

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionMs De Lima spent the night in the senate to evade arrest before turning herself over

A leading critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Leila de Lima, has been arrested on drug trafficking charges.

Senator Leila de Lima is accused of receiving money from detained drug lords.

She has insisted on her innocence and says the charges are an attempt to silence her criticisms of Mr Duterte's war against drugs.

She had spent the night in the Senate in Manila to evade arrest on Thursday.

But on Friday morning she surrendered to police, telling reporters: "It is my honour to be imprisoned for the things I am fighting for.

"They will not be able to silence me and stop me from fighting for the truth and justice and against the daily killings and repression by the Duterte regime."

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Ms De Lima has been one of the most vocal critics of Mr Duterte, whose drug war which has left more than 7,000 people dead since it was launched in July 2016.

Critics say he has encouraged police, vigilantes and mercenaries to shoot suspected drug dealers and users on sight.

The death toll from the crackdown has attracted intense criticism from human rights groups and Western countries, although the president continues to enjoy a high level of support among Filipinos.

Mr Duterte has defended the crackdown, saying police were only authorised to open fire when threatened by suspects.

The operations were suspended last month after the killing of a South Korean businessman inside police headquarters.

Mr Duterte said the police force needed to be cleaned up and has now ordered the Drug Enforcement Agency, rather than the police, to lead it, with back-up from the military.

BBC News