The Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region issued an alert bulletin on the arbitrary arrest by state forces of its former general secretary Jayvee “Jay” Apiag on August 13. The report said Apiag was about to board his friend’s car in Digos City when city police suddenly approached and showed him an arrest warrant. Apiag was on his way to Cor Jesu College, a private university, where he is studying law.

“Jay Apiag is a well-known human rights defender in Southern Mindanao,” Karapatan-SMR said. “He led many fact-finding missions and assisted victims of human rights violations from 2016 to 2021.”

The report said Apiag’s was arrested with a warrant for frustrated murder. Accordingly, he was taken to the Digos Police Station where his arrest and detention were processed. But after an hour, Davao City police arrived at the precinct and served an arrest warrant for another fabricated case of frustrated murder. The police took him to the Buhangin precinct in Davao City.

“Karapatan-SMR denounces the arrest of Jay Apiag and sees his arrest as yet another form of attack against human rights defenders. This despicable policy and practice of …filing trumped up charges against rights defenders in an attempt to silence them should stop,” it said.

The group calls for the immediate release of Apiag and the dismissal of fabricated charges against him and other human rights defenders.