Kidnap charges against Erik, Karen dismissed
After 17 days in police custody, Sven-Erik Berger and his fiancée Karen Esdrelon were free to go.
The Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office dismissed yesterday police charges of kidnapping with homicide against the couple, citing “insufficient evidence” to hold them for trial.
The couple shared a hug and kiss, their faces smiling broadly for the first time since they were arrested at the Mactan airport on Feb. 12 for resembling police artist sketches of a Caucasian male and a Filipina whom witnesses said abducted 6-year-old Ellah Joy in Minglanilla town, Cebu.
By 4:30 p.m., they were on their way from the Palace of Justice to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to pick up their bags and retreat to a private life—if they can.
“Some people still think we are child killers,” said 49-year-old Berger, who asked for and obtained two police escorts from the Special Reaction Unit.
“Our next concern is our safety. If I will be shot, the police have to take responsibility. Hopefully, we will go to Norway next week but that is not sure yet. In the meantime, we will stay somewhere.”
With the dismissal of criminal charges, the new police task force formed to solve the Ellah Joy case are challenged to look for the pupil's killers—unless new evidence surfaces to let police refile the case against the couple.
The victim’s lawyer, Daryl Roque Amante, said he would seek a review of the prosecutor’s ruling before the Department of Justice.
“We are not satisfied. We will file an appeal with the DOJ in Manila for its reversal, and if still not satisfied, we will go to the Supreme Court,” Amante said in a text message.
Ellah Joy’s father, Renante, sobbed in frustration over her grave in Pardo cemetery where he immediately went after hearing the prosecutor’s ruling at the Palace of Justice (see story in page 2).
Amante didn’t show up when copies of the prosecutor’s resolution was released by Deputy Provincial Prosecutor England Joseph Berciles about 3 p.m.
Defense lawyers Salvador Solima and Glen Villariza received copies of the resolution and the release order from Berciles at his office.
Also present were Berger and Esdrelon for a closed-door proceeding.
Through the glass window of the office, local and Norwegian journalists aimed their cameras for photos of the jubilant couple, who kissed each other on hearing the good news.
“With God’s grace, I hope they will be able to reconstruct piece by piece their shattered dreams,” Solima said of his clients.
Esdrelon, a nurse from Tuburan town, said the police should do their work properly so no one else would go through their ordeal.
“Di lalim pakauwawan. Maayo gani naay lig-on nga ebidensya. Kon wala pa, diretso unta mi og kapriso (It's not easy to be humiliated. It's good we secured strong evidence that validated our alibis. Otherwise, we would have been jailed for good),” Esdrelon said.
The couple was brought back to the CPPO to have their release order signed by a police officer, then to the police hospital in Camp Sotero Cabahug in Cebu City for a mandatory medical checkup.
Later on, the couple went back to the CPPO to pack their bags and leave the second-floor conference room, which was made their quarters for more than two weeks. For security reasons, they did not say where they would go afterward.
In dismissing the complaint against Berger and Esdrelon, the prosecutors considered video footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) of Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City where the couple checked in at 4:50 p.m. on Feb. 8, the day Ellah Joy was abducted by car-riding perpetrators outside the Calajo-an Elementary School in Minglanilla town.
The videotape that validated the couple’s alibi was “relevant and material” in the case, they said.
“While alibi is, indeed, a weak defense, because the accused can easily fabricate his story to escape criminal liablity... in the present case, herein respondents’ alibi could not have been fabricated with ease as all their itinerary and whereabouts before, on and after Feb. 8, 2011, when this incident transpired have all been very well supported by documentary evidence as well as footage taken by CCTV cameras of the places they have been.”
The key evidence was verified by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7), which was requested by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to check the couple’s claims.
The NBI report was not refuted by the police in the preliminary investigation.
Police mainly relied on the eyewitness testimonies of three children, classmates of Ellah Joy, who positively identified Berger and Esdrelon as the culprits.
Assistant Provincial Prosecutors Marlon Atillo and Marvin dela Peña recommended to dismiss the complaint filed by then CPPO Director Senior Supt. Erson Digal. Acting Cebu Provincial Prosecutor England Joseph Berciles approved it.
Prosecutors quoting the Supreme Court said “agencies tasked with preliminary investigation and prosecution of crimes should never forget that the purpose of a preliminary investigation is to secure the innocent against hasty, malicious, and oppressive prosecution, and to protect one from an open and public accusation of crime...”
Berger said law enforcers need to learn from this case.
“I think there is a need for more improvement on how to do investigation. Even though we have all the evidence about all our alibis, the police didn't care about that at all,” he said.
The couple were stopped by immigration officials as they were about to board a flight last Feb. 12 for Hong Kong, where they had planned to celebrate Valentine's Day and their engagement.
Despite his ordeal during his second visit to the Philippines, Berger said he still loves the country.
“I don't have any regret because I met Karen. This (arrest) has strengthened me and Karen so we feel even more secure in each other. So we are very sure it will be us,” Berger said.
The couple plans to get married on November 2011 or anytime next year.
“We will invite Governor Gwen. We thank her for asking the NBI (to verify our alibi). Of course, I will invite Digal because we need someone to do the dishes and to clean after the wedding,” he quipped.
“I want to thank all the people who supported and believed in us. We should have been out a long time ago if the police had done their work,” he said.
Berger is waiting for the approval of Esdrelon's tourist visa for a planned three-month visit to Norway.
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