Maute ‘recruiter’ seeks time, lawyer in rebellion cases
MANILA — Karen Aizha Hamidon, an alleged recruiter for the Islamic Statelinked Maute group, has asked for more time to answer the complaints because she does not have a lawyer.
The Department of Justice yesterday started the ball rolling in a rebellion complaint filed against her by the National Bureau of Investigation.
Members of the NBI-Counter Terrorism Division subscribed to the complaint-affidavit against Hamidon before Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Peter Ong at the preliminary investigation hearing.
The 36-year-old Hamidon failed to file her counter-affidavit. She arrived at the DOJ without a lawyer, and was only accompanied by her mother.
Hamidon, in an interview with reporters, said: "I feel deprived of my right for legal counsel as stipulated in the Constitution. I've always been assertive of my right."
Although the Public Attorney's Office gave her legal assistance, Hamidon said they told her their involvement in the case ended after the inquest proceeding.
Ong gave Hamidon until 10 a.m. on November 10 to submit her counteraffidavit.
The NBI arrested her in her residence at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig in October.
According to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, "Hamidon has been a person of interest to authorities since she gained international notoriety in the middle of 2016, when she successfully recruited several Indian nationals to come to the Philippines and join the radical Islamic extremist groups in Mindanao."
The Justice chief held a briefing on October 18 and disclosed that Hamidon had allegedly been using messaging applications such as Telegram and WhatsApp to send recruitment messages to Muslims in India, Indonesia and Singapore, asking them to join fighting in Marawi.
The NBI operatives conducted forensic examination on Hamidon's mobile phone, but an initial check of her phone already revealed 296 posts of a message meant to promote rebellion in Marawi City.