Kim Gargar. FROM THE FREEKIMGARGAR.ORG
Family and friends of Dutch-trained chronobiologist Kim Gargar on Wednesday called on the Department of Justice to immediately release him from almost nine months of detention, saying that the charges against him are “baseless and made-up” and that he is not a member of the New People’s Army.
A chronobiologist studies living organisms and their adaptation to solar- and lunar-related rhythms.
The Free Kim Gargar Alliance held a demonstration in front of the DOJ to immediately release Gargar, who was conducting research for an environmental rehabilitation project for typhoon Pablo victims with Panalipdan Mindanao when he was arrested by the military in Cateel, Davao on 1 October 2013.
The military has since alleged that Gargar was a member of the NPA, the armed wing of the revolutionary Communist Party of the Philippines.
Gargar is facing criminal charges that include attempted murder, illegal possession of explosives, and violation of the Comelec gun ban at the Baganga Regional Trial Court.
Contrary to the military’s claim that Gargar has been an NPA since 2012, Gargar lived in Groningen, The Netherlands from 2009 to 2013, pursuing his doctoral degree in chronobiology at the University of Groningen.
Today is the first trial hearing, when the Bagangga regional trial court is expected to decide on the petition for bail filed by Kim’s legal counsel, Atty. Es Estores.
During the pre-trial hearing last February, Atty. Estores tried to prove and establish that the testimonies of the witnesses from the prosecution “were weak.”
“Despite the weak evidence presented by the miltary, the government is hell-bent on detaining Kim. The military already plans to add another made-up case of Frustrated Murder to the list of Kim’s burdens,” said Feny Cosico, Secretariat of the Free Kim Gargar Campaign, in a news release.
‘Where is my father?’
The family of the detained scientist and academic Kim Gargar expressed full support for today’s protest action led by his supporters from the human rights and science communities in front of the DOJ office in Padre Faura, Manila.
“All the charges against Kim are ridiculous. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who found Kim wounded took advantage of the situation. They arrested Kim, an innocent civilian, just so it will look like they’ve been doing their job of going after insurgents,” said Ina Alleco R. Silverio, Kim’s former wife.
Silverio said that their daughter has long been asking after her father.
“She is turning six next month, and she wants to know whether her daddy will be there for the party. She makes pictures and drawings for him on a regular basis, and she badly wants to show them to her father. Kim doesn’t want her to know what has happened because he’s afraid what the effect might be on her,” Silverio said.
“I, for one, want to begin explaining because he is, after all, innocent, and if there’s anyone to blame for this, it’s the government. Our daughter will know soon enough why she is being denied her father, and why so many other children do not see their own mothers and fathers who are also political detainees. The number of political prisoners in the Philippines continues to grow, and this is a terrible indication of the human rights situation in the country,” she said.
To help raise funds for Gargar’s campaign for release and for his legal and personal needs in prison, Silverio said she is putting together a children’s book explaining how Kim became a scientist and teacher. She said that she and Kim are writing it together “via long distance.” This is in addition to the call for support from the local and international networks of the Free Kim Gargar Campaign.
“It will also be our way to explain to Kimiko what her father stands for and what his work entails. It will also be a tribute to other Filipino scientists who continue to stay in the country and work for nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented education,” she said.
The case magnifies the plight of many field scientists who put their lives on the line in the performance of their duty to serve their countrymen, said Cosico.
“The military’s slaughter of ethnobotanist Leonard Co and his colleagues Julius Borromeo and Sofronio Cortez, the tragic deaths of the weather forecaster who perished during typhoon Yolanda and the fatal accident that killed cloud seeding experts -- these incidents show the government’s outright neglect of Filipino scientists and the dangers they face. Instead of persecuting and imprisoning scientists, the government should protect people’s scientists like Kim,” added Cosico.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/89886/dutch-trained-chronobiologist-is-not-an-npa-family-and-friends-call-on-doj-to-release-him
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