Manila Bulletin

Hamidon claims NBI duped her into posting terror invites online

- By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG

After the government repeatedly failed to pin her down for her alleged terrorist links, Karen Aizha Hamidon claimed she was duped by an undercover agent of the National Bureau of Investigat­ion (NBI) to post online propaganda and invite foreigners and Filipinos to join the terror groups Maute and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Marawi City fighting.

“I vehemently deny the charges against me because there was an instigatio­n on my part which is illegal. The acts allegedly committed were not done voluntaril­y and against my will and caprice,” read her counter-affidavit submitted before the DOJ yesterday (November 1).

Because of this, Hamidon, the wife of slain Ansar Khalifa Philippine­s (AKP) leader Mohammad Jaafar Maguid, alias “Tokboy,” asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dismiss the criminal complaint filed by the NBI against her for rebellion or 296 counts of inciting to rebellion.

The AKP has been identified as the group behind the September, 2016 Davao City night market bombing, which was done in cooperatio­n with the Maute, and the foiled bombing attempt of the United States Embassy in Manila last December, 2016. Maguid had died last January during a shootout with police in Saranggani.

“The fact that the respondent became the wife of the leader of AKP made her life to be of special interest to arresting persons,” the counteraff­idavit said.

 ??  ?? NAKED EYES — Karen Aizha Hamidon, the woman who was nabbed for allegedly recruiting Maute-ISIS fighters, appears at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila for her preliminar­y trial on charges of rebellion yesterday. (Czar Dancel)
NAKED EYES — Karen Aizha Hamidon, the woman who was nabbed for allegedly recruiting Maute-ISIS fighters, appears at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Manila for her preliminar­y trial on charges of rebellion yesterday. (Czar Dancel)

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