Cultural worker Ericson Acosta out of jail, taken to National Kidney Institute

From InterAksyon (Jan 18): Cultural worker Ericson Acosta out of jail, taken to National Kidney Institute



Political prisoner Ericson Acosta (center), accompanied by Public Attorney's Office head Persida-Rueda Acosta (right) is flanked by supporters who welcomed him on his arrival at the NAIA3 Friday morning. Acosta, a poet and former editor of the UP Collegian, was granted temporary release by a Samar court to undergo treatment at the National Kidney Institute. (photo courtesy of Kaparatan)

Cultural worker and former UP Collegian editor Ericson Acosta, one of the best-known political prisoners in the country, arrived in Manila Friday morning and was taken to the National Kidney Institute for treatment of renal problems after he was granted reprieve by a Samar trial court.

The human rights alliance Karapatan, one of the groups working for Acosta’s release since his arrest by the military more than two years ago, quoted him as telling relatives and supporters who welcomed him at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 that it was his “first time to ride an airplane.”

Acosta, 40, who authorities claim is a leader of the communist rebels movement, was arrested in San Jorge town and was detained for 23 months at the Calbayog Sub-Provincial Jail while being tried by the Gandara Regional Trial Court on charges of illegal possession of explosives. His family and supporters maintain he was doing volunteer research work for a local peasant group when he was captured.

The court allowed his temporary release to undergo a medical check-up and treatment after Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta visited him with a medico-legal consultant who confirmed he is suffering from nephritis, a condition characterized by blood in the urine, lower back pains, fevers and painful urination and that no hospital in Samar is equipped to treat Acosta’s condition.

“Matagal na naming hinihintay ang mapatingnan si Eric (We have long waited to have Eric examined),” Karapatan quoted Acosta’s 80-year old mother, Liwayway, as saying. The group said Liwayway went to the airport alone because her husband, who has been working ceaselessly for their son’s release, also had an appointment with a doctor to treat a spinal condition.

“Gusto nga sana niyang sumama kay Attorney Persida pero hindi na niya kinaya ang sakit (He even wanted to go with Attorney Persida but he could no longer stand the pain),” she said. The PAO head has acknowledged that the case against Acosta was questionable because “there were no private complainants; these are all Army people in the list…”

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr., a convenor of the Free Ericson Acosta Campaign, blamed the detainee’s condition on his alleged torture and incarceration at “the hands of a government that politicizes political opposition and what it arbitrarily tags as ‘enemies of the state’.” Karapatan said Acosta’s temporary release was granted amid a spike in the arrest of activists nationwide. Since last month, the group said authorities have arrested 28 members of activist organizations, among them government workers.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/52989/free-for-now--cultural-worker-ericson-acosta-out-of-jail-taken-to-national-kidney-institute