One aussie who wont be back

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Jollygoodfellow
Posted
Posted

Lucky cameras were working  :mellow:

Aussie man tells of Philippine drug war

Australian man Damian Berg has learnt first hand what it feels like to be a victim of the Philippine's bloody war on drugs, locked up and put on trial for a crime he didn't commit.
"In a split second, my life was gone. I was taken away from my pregnant girlfriend, I lost my job," Mr Berg told AAP in his first interview since his acquittal.
The 35-year-old from Adelaide has spent his first weekend back in Australia - months after he was arrested on June 20.
Just weeks before Mr Berg was locked up, Rodrigo Duterte - aka "the Punisher" - was elected President.
By June's end the country's violent crackdown on drugs began in earnest.
More than 3000 people are estimated to have been killed in police operations and by vigilantes since.
These numbers have new weight for Mr Berg after he watched police officers give sworn evidence in court later shown to be false.
Police alleged Mr Berg - who worked as the commercial manager for engineering company First Balfour in the Philippines - was caught in a street buy-bust operation selling 50 ecstasy tablets to Canadian man Jeremy Eaton on the night of June 20 in Makati City.
What CCTV showed was that Mr Berg was not arrested in a sting on the street but at the nearby Red Planet Hotel, where police stormed into his room, guns drawn, while he was working.

Initially, Mr Berg said he didn't know they were police or why Eaton was there.
"I thought it was some kind of robbery."
Bewildered and in a state of shock, Mr Berg was hauled in front of the press and then locked in a police holding cell where he slept curled-up on the floor with 15 others for a month.
He was later transferred to "horrible" Makati City Jail where prisoners mete out punishment in public beatings of inmates.
Mr Berg was acquitted on September 15, the court finding the CCTV "belied the claim of the prosecution ... and destroyed the integrity of their testimonies".
But he still doesn't know why police burst into his life.
"I have thought about this every night, especially when I was incarcerated. I still don't know what happened," he said.
"How are you meant to believe that all these people who are being killed in buy-busts are guilty of drug dealing when they completely fabricated this whole thing against me?"
Since his acquittal Mr Berg said he has received threatening text messages from unknown phone numbers.
Mr Berg once saw the Philippines as home, but on Friday he and his partner Marvie Torreon moved to Australia where their son is expected to be born next month.

http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/aussie-man-tells-of-philippine-drug-war/news-story/783ee8c1df144d113f9d368e029464e1

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Richieboy67
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I don't think I'll be going back there until there are some serious changes in leadership.

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robert k
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Sounds like Jeremy Eaton is to blame here? Jeremy Eaton probably got caught with drugs and the cops wanted him to give up someone for reduced sentence or even immunity. What a low individual.

Then the cops do what they often do, lie to improve their case at any cost. The cops probably would have never bothered Damian Berg except for Jeremy Eaton. The funny thing is blaming Duterte.:hystery:

Was Duterte at the arrest? Did Duterte testi-lie at trial? Could this have only happened since Duterte took office or could something similar have happened before? Ellah Joy Pique murder case anyone?

If you can blame Duterte for the arrest of Damian Berg? Does that mean Aquino was responsible for Ms. Santos and the foreigners who were arrested? Even when there was video evidence saying they couldn't possibly have done it? :thumbsup:

It would seem you get a fairer shake under Duterte?

Edited by robert k
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pjclark1
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I was falsely arrested and jailed in the UK (3 nights in the cells). 

It's shocking when it happens to you, but I don't think it's all that rare ....... anywhere.

 

 

 

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chris49
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3 hours ago, Richieboy67 said:

I don't think I'll be going back there until there are some serious changes in leadership.

It doesn't affect law abiding citizens.

As you have told us earlier Richie you are not at retirement age so you are not due back anyway? Aren't you processing your wife and baby's citizenship or Green Card in her case.

My take? The more people who leave or don't come here, the better it is for those who stay.

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chris49
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52 minutes ago, pjclark1 said:

I was falsely arrested and jailed in the UK (3 nights in the cells). 

It's shocking when it happens to you, but I don't think it's all that rare ....... anywhere.

 

 

 

It has never happened to me or anyone I know in 67 years.

Oops....I had 3 friends jailed in Saudi but I think the charges were legit.

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Richieboy67
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11 minutes ago, chris49 said:

It doesn't affect law abiding citizens.

As you have told us earlier Richie you are not at retirement age so you are not due back anyway? Aren't you processing your wife and baby's citizenship or Green Card in her case.

My take? The more people who leave or don't come here, the better it is for those who stay.

Apparently you did not read the article and you are fooling yourself if you don't think innocent people are effected.

 

As for my situation, we have been in the US since April and our baby was born in March.

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scott h
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5 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

he was arrested on June 20.

Lucky for him that I happened before July 1. He might have "resisted arrest". We all know what that means!! :hystery:

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pjclark1
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23 minutes ago, Richieboy67 said:

Apparently you did not read the article and you are fooling yourself if you don't think innocent people are effected.

Everyone claims to be innocent,  just because he got off doesn't mean it's true. 

Always surprised that so many older white dudes manage to drift through life without noticing the reality around them. 

Truth is many of us are arrested and jailed at some point in our life,  if none of your friends were, then you just didn't notice, or they didn't tell you., or you don't have many friends. 

The women  most of us mix with in SEA, and their families, are into all sorts of criminal activities. Respectable girls from respectable families just don't date guys old enough to be their dad. 

Edited by pjclark1
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robert k
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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Richieboy67 said:

Apparently you did not read the article and you are fooling yourself if you don't think innocent people are effected.

 

As for my situation, we have been in the US since April and our baby was born in March.

Evidently you didn't read the article. Here are the salient points.

Sounds like Jeremy Eaton is to blame here? Jeremy Eaton probably got caught with drugs and the cops wanted him to give up someone for reduced sentence or even immunity. What a low individual.

Then the cops do what they often do, lie to improve their case at any cost. The cops probably would have never bothered Damian Berg except for Jeremy Eaton. The funny thing is blaming Duterte.

Was Duterte at the arrest? Did Duterte testi-lie at trial? Could this have only happened since Duterte took office or could something similar have happened before? Ellah Joy Pique murder case anyone?

Edited by robert k
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