Farmers were clearly targeted, lawyer says

Darwin Sulang, one of the two killed in the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in Kidapawan City last April was targeted by a police sniper.

This was revealed by peoples’ lawyer Ephraim Cortez in a press conference with other human rights defenders and peasant leaders in Quezon City last April 15.

Cortez said that the results of the autopsy conducted by Prof. Racquel Fortun last April 9 indicate that Sulang was deliberately shot based on how cleanly he was shot between the eyes.

Fortun also examined Enrico Fabligar’s cadaver, Cortes said.

The victims did not die of mauling or heat stroke as the Philippine National Police (PNP) stated, the lawyer said.

Cortes said they will include these evidence as part of their defense of the farmers and in their counter charges against the PNP.