Suspects in Joanna Demafelis murder face death penalty

FILE: A Lebanese national and his Syrian wife were sentenced to death by hanging in absentia by a Kuwaiti court on Sunday over the death of their Filipina maid whose body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.(RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

A Lebanese national and his Syrian wife on Sunday were sentenced in absentia by a Kuwaiti court to death by hanging over the death of their Filipina maid whose body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.

The court issued the sentence in the first hearing of the case of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis.

A judicial source, however, said that the verdict can still be appealed if the couple flies back to Kuwait.

Philippine Ambassador Renato Pedro Villa refused to comment on the court’s decision, telling Agence France-Presse that the Philippines would wait for the rendition of Demafelis’ employers.

The two suspects were arrested last February in the Syrian capital of Damascus after the Kuwaiti government sought the help of Interpol to hunt them down.

The Syrian authorities handed Nader Essam Assaf over to Lebanese authorities, while his Syrian wife, Mona, remained in custody in Damascus.

The death of Demafelis prompted a diplomatic crisis between Kuwait and the Philippines, prompting the latter to impose a departure ban for its citizens who would want to work in the Gulf state.

While the Lebanese-Syrian couple faces death penalty, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Migrant Workers Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola last Thursday arrived in Kuwait to meet with Filipino workers and Kuwaiti officials.

“We are here to be with our kababayans para kumustahin sila (Fellowmen to know their situations) and to ensure that the repatriation efforts are conducted compassionately and courageously,” Arriola said upon her arrival at Kuwait International Airport on March 29.

She was set to hold talks yesterday with Kuwaiti officials regarding condition for Filipino workers, including violations of labor law.

Currently, there are about 250,000 documented OFWs in Kuwait with 165,000 of them working as domestic workers. They depend on remittances to provide the need of their families back home.

The Philippines has been working to assist the return of its citizens who want to go back to their motherland, including those who have lost their residency status.

Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa, on the other hand, said that the Philippine government is now in talks with Kuwait “to secure an amnesty that will allow 6,000 Filipinos living without papers to return.”

Villa also appealed to those undocumented workers to register themselves immediately so they could return home.

“It takes at least 10 days to process the documents of our kababayans (fellowmen) and get the necessary clearances from Kuwaiti authorities before we can put them on the plane to Manila,” he said.

According to Villa, the number of Filipinos registering themselves with the embassy has decreased since Kuwait declared a two-month extension to their amnesty for overstaying foreign workers.

“We cannot be expected to handle a deluge of applications especially during the last few days of the amnesty period,” he stressed.

He urged Filipino workers to go to the embassy to sign themselves up as soon as possible.

“We want to make sure no one is left behind,” he added.