Palace welcomes conviction of Demafelis’ employer by Syrian court

Demafelis’ body was found in a freezer inside the apartment of Assaf and Hassoan in Kuwait last year. (PNA File Photo)

MANILA — Malacañang welcomed the conviction of one of the employers of slain Filipina household worker Joanna Demafelis by the Syrian District Criminal Court.

“We welcome that news which means that justice has been meted to the culprits, to the killers,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) bared that the Syrian District Criminal Court found the employer of Demafelis, Mouna Ali Hassoun, guilty of murder.

Hassoun is expected to be meted with a prison sentence ranging from eight to 15 years. Hassoun’s co-accused Lebanese husband, Nader Essam Assaf, was also charged with murder in Lebanon.

The couple was earlier tried in absentia, found guilty of murder and meted the death penalty in Kuwait.

DFA said it will continue to provide legal assistance to the family until justice is served.

Demafelis’ body was found in a freezer inside the apartment of Assaf and Hassoan in Kuwait last year.

The discovery of her body prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarily stop the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.

On May 11, 2018, the “Agreement on the Employment of Domestic Workers” was signed between the Philippines and Kuwait which contains a contract of employment template where provisions “particularly stated” by Duterte are enumerated to ensure the protection of the Filipino workers in the Gulf state.

The agreement requires Filipino workers in Kuwait to have seven hours of sleep, a weekly day off with pay, adequate food, and safekeeping of the housemaids’ passports in the Philippine embassy among others.