Paco Larrañaga Speaks from Death Row (English subtitles)

http://www.freepaconow.com
http://www.giveuptomorrow.com

Francisco Juan "Paco" Larrañaga (born in 1977) is a dual-citizen of the Philippines and Spain convicted of murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection on February 3, 2004 for the kidnapping and murder of Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong on July 16, 1997 in Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. Paco left death row last year after the death penalty was abolished in the Philippines in June. He has since been moved to a new unit in the same prison of New Bilibid, southern Manila. The son of former Basque jai-alai player/pelotari Manuel Larrañaga and Margot González, Paco has better conditions now in his new cell than those he suffered on death row but is still awaiting justice for a crime that he denies committing.

More than 35 witnesses comprised of Paco's teachers and classmates at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA) in Quezon City testified under oath that he was in Metro Manila, another city, when the crime is said to have taken place in Cebu. However, the trial court considered these testimonies as irrelevant. Many other witnesses classmates and companions at the R&R restaurant, were not allowed to testify.

Airline and airport personnel also came to court with their flight records, indicating that Paco did not take any flight on July 16, 1997, nor was he on board any chartered aircraft that landed in or departed from Cebu during the relevant dates.

Larrañaga's counsels Felicitas Aquino Arroyo and Sandra Marie Olaso Coronel urged the high court to admit the amicus curiae from the Basque Bar Council (BBC), Barcelona Bar Associations (BBA) and Bar Association of Madrid.

Former Ambassador Sedfrey Ordóñez claims he is the victim of a mistrial.

Fair Trials Abroad, an NGO working on behalf of EU citizens who face a miscarriage of justice, entered an Amicus brief which was submitted to the Supreme court by the European Commission's Manila delegate.

The case has also drawn the attention of Amnesty International. Go here for more information on their website (in Spanish): http://www.es.amnesty.org/actua/acciones/larranaga-ago05/ http://www.fairtrials.net/news/article/juan_paco_larranaga_case_cebus_mistria...

http://www.reprieve.org.uk/pacolarranaga

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiong_murder_case

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News & Politics

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• Free Paco Now

[Dancewithme1983]

Paco and the rest of the prisoners - you are NOT abandoned. People who see this know that you were innocent. Humanbeing KNOW deep inside the truth. They cannot fool us to belive. We know!

[Dancewithme1983]

FREE HIM! Shame to the Fillipines. Shame to the justice sytem. Shameful! How dare they do this injustice?

[i7fan]

FREE HIM NOW!!! Shame on the governments of philippines and spain for handling this so bad.

[homeboiUH]

Is this what they call justice? Set him free already, he's so strong who made it this far..

[danaolady]

one of the most heartbreaking, soul destroying miscarriage of justice! to paco and family, please dont give up any flicker of hope...

[fujiwarakenji]

The judge just wanted to be famous and created a scene in his courtroom to tailor fit the medias hunger for scandalous news (be it the truth or not). The cops couldn't care less. They were and are still as lazy as ever and totally incapable of capturing the real culprits. And although I feel sad for the Chiong family, Mrs. Chiong just wanted a scape goat soooo bad that she was willing to ruin innocent people just to get her blood lust satisfied. Let "US" the unheard 35 speak! FREE PACO NOW!!!