A lawmaker expressed doubts on whether the death sentence given by Kuwait to slain overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Joanna Demafelis’ employers will be carried out.
In a press statement, Rep. Anicete “John” Bertiz Jr. of ACTS-OFW party-list said that despite the sentence, Lebanon and Syria may not send the OFWs employers – Nader Essam Assaf, a Lebanese national, and his wife Mona Hassoun, a Syrian national – to Kuwait.
“Both Lebanon and Syria are separate states from Kuwait. No sovereign state will send its own citizen to another country just to be executed,” said Bertiz.
Despite this, Bertiz remains hopeful that justice will be served for the slain Filipina.
The suspects are now in the custody of their respective countries. However, it was a Kuwait court who ruled for their death sentence.
The said court released its decision during the first hearing of the case on April 1.
Meanwhile, a source told Agence France-Presse that the couple can still appeal for their case if they will return to Kuwait.
The body of Demafelis was discovered stuffed inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait early February.
Autopsy showed the OFW suffered repeated beatings which resulted to a broken rib, trauma, and internal bleeding.
