Former Philippines president Joseph Estrada said Tuesday that he would sue state prosecutors for damages after a special anti-graft court effectively threw out perjury charges against him.
"We are going to file a case for malicious prosecution," Estrada lawyer Raymond Fortun told reporters, adding that his client would seek millions of pesos (tens of thousands of dollars) in damages.
"Obviously, it is clear that this case was filed purely for political purposes at the expense of our client's reputation," Fortun added.
Fortun charged that Ombudsman Aniano Desierto had filed the case against his client "with the full knowledge that they do not have a case against him".
The Sandiganbayan court on Monday prevented government prosecutors from introducing evidence against Estrada in the case, saying the evidence did not support the charge sheet. Prosecutors said the court action was tantamount to throwing out the case.
Estrada, who was toppled in January, remains in detention at a military hospital here and facing separate charges of plundering a personal fortune of 80 million dollars. The crime is punishable by death.
State prosecutors said Tuesday that the government would appeal the adverse ruling to the Supreme Court.
Ombudsman Desierto said the move barring the presenting of evidence on the charge of perjury against Estrada was an injustice.
"The result of the ruling is that they are practically acquitting the accused because we cannot present evidence, so what do we do now? We will go to the Supreme Court," Desierto told DZMM radio.
The basis for the perjury case was that Estrada lied when he stated he was worth only some 35 million dollars in his statement of assets and liabilities in 1999 when in fact he had more, prosecutors said -- MANILA, (AFP)
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