MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino who wound up in an Iranian prison on suspicion of drug trafficking is in fear of his life, and his family and friends have been circulating a plea he had hastily scribbled on scratch paper to call attention to his plight.
“Here I am in Mashad prison and I’m a victim of crime of another people. I’m a victim of drug syndicate and I’m begging for mercy because I never know anything,” wrote 28-year-old Ernie Guinoo Tamonde.
The undated note in broken English found its way to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI), and one of its research assistants sent out e-mails to let the Filipino’s friends and family know what happened to him.
Later, officials of the Philippine embassy in Tehran informed Tamonde’s relatives and friends that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and that the embassy had been in touch with him and assisting him since January.
In the note, Tamonde, whom friends described in e-mails as an active church worker in La Union, said he visited Iran as a tourist and met a local man who befriended him.
When he told the Iranian that he was headed to Malaysia next, the man asked if Tamonde could take a detour to Thailand to deliver some clothes to a friend there. The Iranian offered to pay for his ticket.
Tamonde said he agreed because it meant a free trip and a ticket from Thailand to Malaysia would be cheaper for him.
But at the Iran airport he was arrested by police after the clothes he was carrying were found to contain 2.34 kilos of illegal drugs. The note did not say the kind of drugs. He was detained at Vakilabad prison.
“I never take a picture and his address because I never expect he will do bad things to me. He win my trust because he look like a good man he speak English and he even advice me not to trust Iranian because some of them are lier (liar),” Tamonde said of the Iranian in his note.
On Nov. 17, the ICHRI posted scans of Tamonde’s message with a note saying that Philippine authorities must act before it was too late.
“The Campaign wrote a letter today to Philippines Foreign Secretary, Alberto G. Romulo, expressing concern that Tamonde could face execution without proper representation and urged his government to publicly disclose any information it may have on Tamonde’s case,” it said.
“For months the Campaign has been reporting about allegations, from former prisoners and other reliable sources, of secret group executions inside Vakilabad prison in Mashad,” the ICHRI added.
