GENEVA (5 March 2026) – The conviction of journalist
Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defender Marielle
Domequil in the Philippines on charges of financing
terrorism is deeply troubling, UN experts* said
today.
“Frenchie and Marielle have suffered six
years of pre-trial detention and a fraught legal process
with a string of charges that have been widely criticised as
baseless and in retaliation for their human rights work,”
the experts said. “At a minimum, they should be released
on bail while they pursue their appeal.”
After
months of ‘red-tagging’ and harassment attributed to
State agents, Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil were
arrested on 7 February 2020, charged with illegal possession
of firearms and explosives and detained with no legal
possibility of bail. A year and half after they were
arrested, an additional charge of financing terrorism was
filed against them. The judicial proceedings started on 11
November 2024 – almost five years after their arrest –
and, in January 2026, the Regional Trial Court of Tacloban
City exonerated the two women of all charges except that of
financing terrorism, for which they could face between 12
and 18 years in prison.
“Given the serious concerns
about the unconscionable length of time that the two young
women have already spent in detention and the lack of due
process, but also a possibility now of provisional release,
we urge the court to grant them bail without any further
delay,” the experts said.
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“Frenchie and Marielle
deserve to be free to fight for justice,” they
said.
The experts are in contact with the Government
on this matter.
*The
experts:
- Irene Khan, Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to
freedom of opinion and expression - Ben
Saul, Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism - Gina Romero, Special
Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and
of association - Mary Lawlor, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders - Margaret Satterthwaite, Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers
