Francisco Juan Larrañaga (Paco) - The Philippines

Francisco Juan Larrañaga (Paco), a dual national of Spain and the Philippines, was sentenced to death in 2004, for crimes he allegedly committed when he was 19, following a grossly unfair trial in the Philippines which restricted his ability to present a defence. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2006, after the death penalty was abolished in the Philippines and a general amnesty was granted.

FTI has been involved in Paco’s case since March 2004. We regard Paco’s conviction as unsafe, as he was not given a fair trial according to international standards of justice. These concerns were confirmed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in 2006. The government of the Philippines ignored this finding, and Paco remained in prison.

In October 2009, he was transferred from the Philippines to Spain under a prison transfer agreement signed in 2007 between the two nations. He remains in prison in Madrid.

Background

On 16 July 1997, two young girls went missing from Cebu City, the Philippines. They are believed to have been kidnapped, raped and murdered; the body of only one of the girls has never been found.

According to witness statements from teachers and classmates, Paco was taking his exams on the 16 and 17 July at the Centre for Culinary Arts in Quezon City, 500 km away from Cebu City. Witnesses place Paco at a restaurant in Quezon City on the evening of 16 July and the log book at the condominium where he was staying in Quezon City shows that he returned at 2:45am. In addition, one of Paco’s teachers gave evidence that she had seen him at 6.30pm at school in Quezon City on the day of the murders.

Paco took a flight from Quezon City to Cebu City on 17 July 1997 at 5pm. During the trial on 23 November 1998, a total of fourteen witnesses testified that he was in Quezon City immediately before, during and after the crime allegedly committed in Cebu City.

Paco was nonetheless convicted by a court on 5 May 1999 of 2 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua: life imprisonment without parole.

He made an appeal to the Supreme Court on 10 May 2000. On 3 February 2004, the Supreme Court found Paco guilty not only of the kidnapping and serious illegal detention but also of the complex crime of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with homicide and rape, and increased his sentence to the death penalty.

Fair trial concerns

• Paco was not allowed to give evidence at his trial.
• The prosecution’s main witness was a co-defendant, Davidson Valiente Rusia, who was promised immunity from prosecution if he told the ‘truth’. He was induced by the judge to testify against Paco and his co-defendants.
• Several defence witnesses were prevented from giving evidence to prove Paco’s alibi.
• Paco was denied adequate counsel, violating his right to a fair trial. The lawyer appointed to him after his original one was dismissed had less than one day to prepare the case.
• Paco’s lawyer’s right to examine the chief prosecution witnesses was restricted. As a result his lawyer refused to participate in the trial and asked the trial judge to recuse him. On 24 August 1998, Paco’s lawyer was summarily found guilty of contempt of court, arrested and imprisoned.
• Paco’s right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal was violated. Pressure was exerted on the courts by powerful groups and he was the subject of an unprecedented number of media reports that condemned him before his trial started. There was also a 100,000 Peso reward for prosecution information and testimony.

UNHRC Findaings

FTI assisted Paco with an application to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) requesting their views on the breach of Paco’s rights under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights 1966, to which the Philippines is a State Party.

In 2006 the UNHRC concluded that Paco’s trial by the Philippines had violated article 6, paragraph 1; article 7; and article 14, paragraphs 1, 2, 3 (b), (c), (d), (e), 5, of the Covenant (a copy of the UNHRC's communication can be viewed here). In effect this confirmed that Paco had received an unfair trial which had led to an unsafe conviction and a sentence which violated the Philippines’ obligations under international law. The UNHRC confirmed that:

• Paco was quite clearly denied a fair trial;
• Both his trial and the appeal were not conducted by an impartial tribunal;
• The delays Paco faced during his criminal proceedings were such that they constituted a breach of international law, in fact the delays in Paco’s trial were caused by the authorities and not by Paco;
• Paco was subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment by the authorities in the Philippines;
• Paco’s trial did not respect his right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, a fundamental right of all individuals accused of committing crimes- in fact, it was quite clear from statements made by senior officials in the Philippines, the media coverage of Paco’s case and intimations made to the trial judge that Paco was fighting to prove his innocence against a presumption of guilt;
• The imposition of an automatic and mandatory death penalty, without any possibility of taking into account Paco’s personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence, was a violation of the Philippines’ obligations under Article 6, paragraph 1 of the ICCPR;
• Paco was not given adequate time and facilities to prepare defence;
• Paco was denied effective representation by a lawyer of his own choosing and the Supreme Court failed to correct this when the matter was raised before it, directly violating international law;
• The trial court denied to hear defence witnesses stating the evidence was "irrelevant and immaterial" and time was limited, despite the fact that the number of witnesses for the prosecution was not similarly restricted- Paco was therefore stripped of his right to examine and present witnesses during his trial in violation of Article 14 (3)e of the ICCPR;
• Paco was denied his right to have his appeal his sentence in front of a higher tribunal.

Prison Transfer to Spain

On 7 October 2009, Paco was transferred from the Philippines to Spain under a prisoner transfer agreement between the two nations signed in 2007.
Fair Trials International welcomed the decision to transfer Paco to Spain. However, we are concerned that he has not yet been granted a fair trial or an opportunity to present his defence in accordance with the views of the UNHRC. Faisal Saifee, Paco’s UK lawyer, made the following statement:

“Since Paco is now in Spain, he is their responsibility. The UNHRC recommended that Paco’s death sentence be commuted and he be given early parole. Although his death sentence was commuted, he still remains in prison. Spain must do something.”

(Faisal Saifee is a barrister at Thomas More Chambers. He has been a former volunteer at FTI and has been assisting Paco on a pro bono basis since 2004. Together with Fair Trials International, he represented Paco in his application to the UNHRC ).