Two Catholic Human Rights Activist Priests in the Philippines have been Acquitted - Father Albert Alejo and Father Flavie Villanueva and others

 Two Catholic priests together with a former lawmaker and several others, have been acquitted from the criminal charge of conspiring to commit sedition. According to UCA News a court in the Philippines acquitted
Human rights activists, Jesuit Father Albert Alejo and Society of Divine Word Father Flavie Villanueva and others  due to insufficiency of evidence. This ruling was given by the Metropolitan Trial Court in Quezon City in the Philippine national capital of Manila as released on September 6.

The two priests, Alejo and Villanueva were critics of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's deadly war on illegal drugs.
Rights groups say Duterte's presidency between 2016-2022 claimed the lives of more than 30,000 suspected drug dealers and users in extra-judicial killings.
The priests were charged with  “conspiracy to commit sedition” for their alleged role in the production and dissemination of a video implicating Duterte and his family in a drug cartel.
In their defense, the priests said there was no evidence to prove their participation in the alleged distribution and production of the video.
The court said the prosecution "fell short of proving that the accused were guilty in the instant case."
"The prosecution failed to prove the commission of the crime of conspiracy to commit sedition as alleged,” it added.
Those convicted of conspiracy to commit sedition face a minimum of six years to a maximum of 12 years in prison and a fine.

Villanueva told UCA News that he saw the case "as the price to pay when we defend the voiceless, side with the truth and stand for justice.”

The case against the two priests and others was filed in February 2020. The defendants secured bail before the trial started in March that year.

In 2019, the Justice Department filed sedition charges against four bishops and a priest. The charges were dropped in 2020 for want of evidence.

Source: UCA News - Image Facebook of Fr. Villanueva