Despite facing drug-related charges, Senator Leila De Lima received Tuesday, October 31, Liberal International’s (LI) “highest human rights honor” for “setting the example for human rights defenders”.
The international organization, which is one of the first organizations to campaign for De Lima’s release from prison, is comprised of politicians from around the world.
“Senator De Lima, a vocal and ardent critic the Philippines authoritarian president Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called ‘war of drugs’, has been held in pre-trial detention on politically motivated charges since February 2017,” the announcement read.
The LI’s Prize for Freedom is awarded to “a well-known personality of liberal conviction who has made outstanding efforts for the defence of freedom and human rights.”
She will be the second Filipino to receive the Human Rights Prize, after Corazon Aquino in 1987, who was honored for her advocacy of democracy and peace.
De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, was arrested for allegedly receiving money from high-profile inmates in exchange for certain privileges inside the New Bilibid Prison
Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed her petition to nullify her arrest, voting 9-6.
Source: Liberal International
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