Amsterdam, Netherlands: A Dutch court yesterday ordered the immediate release of communist leader Jose Maria Sison, saying there was insufficient evidence to hold him on murder charges.
Sison was arrested on August 28 in Utrecht, where he has lived in self-imposed exile for two decades, for allegedly ordering two rivals killed in Manila.
He was due to be released yesterday from Scheveningen prison outside The Hague, where he had been held much of the time in isolation.
The judges said it was clear the Communist Party of the Philippines was responsible, and that the decision to kill the two men had been taken "within the party structure." But there was too little evidence to link Sison directly, the ruling said.
"There is much support in the evidence for the view that [Sison] still plays a prominent role in the Central Committee of the CPP and its military arm, the New People's Army," judges at the Hague District Court said in a brief summary of their ruling.
But it said the evidence was insufficient to show that Sison "had a conscious and close cooperation with those in the Philippines who carried out the deed."
It also said there was inadequate evidence to prosecute Sison for inciting the killings.
Prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said the prosecution planned to appeal the decision to release Sison.
"In the meantime, the investigation will continue, and Sison remains a suspect," he said.
Sison was accused of ordering the murder of Romulo Kintanar in 2003 and Arturo Tabara in 2004. The Communist Party, which the European Union designated a terrorist group in 2002, issued statements claiming it carried out both slayings.
"We're very happy Joma has been released now after 15-16 days of solitary confinement," said his close aide Luis Jalandoni, referring to Sison by his nickname.
