AFP will no longer file case vs German so he can leave PH

By: 10 years ago

Siblings of slain Filipino transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude and his German fiancé, Marc Sueselbeck, top center, cry during a funeral procession on Oct. 24, 2014 in Olongapo city. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said Wednesday night it will no longer stop Sueselbeck from leaving the country. AP PHOTO/JUN DUMAGUING

MANILA, Philippines–The Armed Forces of the Philippines will no longer stop Mark Sueselbeck, the German boyfriend of slain transgender Filipino Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, from leaving the country.

In a statement Wednesday night, the AFP, however, maintained that Sueselbeck violated the rules and regulation of Camp Aquinaldo when he entered a restricted area of the camp where a US Marine tagged in the killing of ‘Jennifer’ is detained and assaulted a Filipino soldier.

The AFP said it had also asked the Bureau of Immigration to declare the German national an undesirable alien.

However, the AFP said it would no longer file a case against Sueselbeck so he could leave the country immediately.

Sueselbeck, who was barred from leaving Manila on Sunday, along with Laude’s sister Marilou demanded to see Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton at his US-guarded, makeshift detention cell in Camp Aguinaldo on Oct. 22.

The AFP said it would file a disbarment case against lawyer Harry Roque, the counsel of the Laude family, before the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for his “inappropriate actions” inside the camp.

This developed as the Laude family on Wednesday asked the BI to declare the US Marine tagged in ‘Jennifer’s’ killing an “undesirable alien” to compel him to appear before Philippine authorities.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Immigration Commissioner Siegfried Mison, the family sought immigration proceedings against Pemberton of the US Marine Corps.

The family pointed out how Pemberton, whom they accused of killing Laude, has been kept away from public eye.

Pemberton has not appeared in any of the proceedings at the Olongapo City Prosecutors’ Office, which is conducting a preliminary investigation of the complaint for murder brought against him by the Laudes.

“We bring to your attention the case of US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton, who stands accused of killing our loved one, Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, on Oct. 11, 2014,” the Laudes said in their letter.

“The murder of our loved one violates Philippine law and is a gross disrespect for what we hold dear as a people. His gruesome murder of a [Filipino] citizen should be enough justification to declare him an undesirable alien of the most repulsive kind,” they said.–Cynthia D. Balana and Tarra Quismundo