Maguindanao massacre trial to be webcast live

The Philippine Supreme Court Tuesday ordered a live video webcast of the trial of members of a political clan accused in the massacre of 57 people, including 31 journalists. It is the first time the tribunal has allowed real-time coverage of court proceedings via the internet, and the trial to be broadcast involves the November 2009 massacre that is the worst act of political violence in a country inured to bloodshed. Chief Justice Renato Corona's order comes after the court last week gave permission for live radio and television broadcast of the trial. "With this, the Magui-ndanao Massacre trial will be accessible to viewers worldwide, continuously and without interruption," a court statement said. The powerful Ampatuan clan patriarch and former southern Maguindanao provincial Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr and several of his sons are among the 196 people accused of killing members of a rival clan and journalists travelling in a convoy in November 2009. Of the total, 92 suspects are in custody and 58 have been arraigned. The principal suspect, former town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., is accused of leading about 150 gunmen with his father's approval in mowing down the victims. Andal Jr. and his father have pleaded not guilty. The trial is held twice weekly in a maximum-security detention facility inside a police camp. One witness, Ampatuan's servant, Lakmudin Saliao, has testified that six days before the killings, the patriarch asked his family over dinner how they could stop rival Esmail Mangudadatu from running for governor. According to Saliao, Ampatuan Jr said, "If they come here, just kill them all." His father allegedly agreed. On the day of the killings, Ampatuan Jr. told his father by cellphone that he had blocked the convoy, Saliao testified. "The father ordered him to gun down everybody but spare the journalists, to which Ampatuan Jr. replied, ‘No ... somebody could talk if we won't wipe out everybody'," the servant said. From / Gulf News