Judge stops torture hearings

Wed, 26 Oct 1994 | Source: REUTERS

MANILA (Reuter): A Philippine judge yesterday stopped two U.S. lawyers from gathering evidence from Filipino victims of human- rights abuses during the rule of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

Judge Martin Villarama issued a restraining order temporarily suspending the hearings being conducted by the Americans after President Fidel Ramos's government protested that they violated Philippine sovereignty.

Villarama set a hearing for Nov. 2 to decide whether to order a permanent halt to the proceedings.

"In order to maintain the status quo, the court in the interest of justice resolves to issue a temporary restraining order effective within a period of 20 days," his order said.

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