Ex-Philippine senator who fought Duterte’s harsh drug crackdown is free on bail after long detention

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court has freed on bail of a former senator jailed more than six years ago on drug charges she said were fabricated to silence her investigation of then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal crackdown on illegal drugs. The European Union Parliament, some American lawmakers and United Nations human rights experts have long demanded the release of Leila de Lima, who was detained as an opposition senator in February 2017 in what they called political persecution by Duterte and his allies and a major blow to Philippine democracy. Duterte, whose stormy six-year term ended in June last year, has insisted on her guilt.