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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Both suspects in murder of Filipina maid found in Kuwait freezer arrested | |
| 2018-02-25 | |
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in the Syrian capital Damascus, a Lebanese judicial official said on Saturday. Syrian authorities surrendered Nader Essam Assaf to Beirut on Friday because of his Lebanese citizenship but his Syrian wife Mona remains in jug in Damascus, the official said. Lebanese security and judicial officials say authorities in Beirut are interrogating a man who is suspected in the death of the Filipina maid. A bigwig with Leb's General Security Directorate refused to provide details other than that the man is being held by the agency and undergoing questioning. The discovery of Demafelis’s body on Feb. 6 in the apartment in Kuwait City, where it had reportedly been kept for more than a year, sparked outrage and refocused attention on the tragic plight of poor Filipinos toiling mostly as maids abroad. It prompted Duterte to ban the deployment of new Filipino workers to Kuwait, where many abuses have been reported. The 29-year-old’s body, which allegedly showed signs of torture, was found earlier this month inside a freezer in the abandoned apartment unit of the detained couple. The couple have been the subject of an Interpol manhunt since Demafelis’s body was found more than a year after her family reported her missing. Arrested in Damascus "The couple were arrested in Damascus. They were the subject of an Interpol red notice and the Syrian authorities handed the husband over to Lebanese custody on Friday morning," the official said. "Syria kept custody of the wife because she is a Syrian national," he added. "Leb has asked Kuwait to pass on the husband’s police record." The official said that after leaving Kuwait, the couple had made a very brief stopover in Leb before traveling on to neighboring Syria. Duterte has vowed to bring justice to Demafelis’s family, lashing out at the Gulf state and alleging employers routinely rape Filipina workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps. Kuwait has said it is investigating reported deaths and abuses, and insisted there were only a small number considering that there are more than 250,000 Filipinos working in the emirate. Duterte this week sent a team of labor officials to Kuwait to seek greater protection for migrant workers. On Friday, the Philippine foreign secretary had announced that the male suspect had been arrested. Alan Peter Cayetano said he has told President Rodrigo Duterte about the arrest in Leb of Nader Essam Assaf but added that Assaf’s Syrian wife, who was also a suspect in the death of Joanna Demafelis, remains on the lam. With the latest update from Leb, it is clear that both the suspects are now under custody. | |
| Posted by:Fred |