TIMOR LESTE GRANTS ANEW PH’S REQUEST FOR TEVES’ EXTRADITION – DOJ

TIMOR-LESTE has granted again the request of the Philippine government to extradite former Negros Oriental 3^rd district Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., the Department of Justice (DOJ) said.

According to the DOJ, the Timor-Leste Court of Appeal has cited the Philippines’ functional legal system in granting the country’s request to extradite Teves Jr. for the second time.

In its 42-page ruling, the Timor-Leste Court of Appeal noted that the Philippine legal system is functional and safeguards the rights of the accused, debunking Teves’ claim that his guilt had been prejudged by Filipino authorities.

“The allegation of the facts imputed to the extradite (Teves) … did not constitute a prior judgement of these facts, nor an attempt to demonstrate to the Timorese State that the extraditee is guilty and will be sentenced, which would be pointless since the trial has not even taken place in the Philippines,” the Timor-Leste court said.

The account was only intended to comply with the formal requirements of the extradition request and does not weaken the extraditee’s right to defense, which in these proceedings is limited to discussing the verification of the formal requirements of the request and the extradition conditions, the court added.

“What’s more, Philippine law provides for the presumption of innocence and safeguards the rights of defense in the proceedings that take place there,” the tribunal said.

Meanwhile, the DOJ thanked the Timor-Leste government for ruling again in favor of its request to bring Teves back to the Philippines.

Teves is facing multiple murder cases for his alleged involvement in the killing of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and several others in March 2023 as well as for the killing of three other individuals in the province in 2019.