Justice is served!
Sep 11, 2019 • 1 min Read
This was how Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III described the conviction by a Syrian court of the female employer for the murder of Filipino household worker Joanna Demafelis who was found in a freezer inside the former’s rented apartment in Kuwait in February last year.
“We are elated by reports that the female employer of Joanna has been convicted. We believe justice has been served on the gruesome death of our OFW,” Bello said.
He added: “We are thankful to the government of Syria that their brand of justice is accorded to poor Joanna and her family.”
Reports said Demafelis’ employer, Syrian Mouna Ali Hassoun, was found guilty of premeditated murder by a court of first instance in Damascus sometime last month. Once sentencing is rendered, Hassoun will be meted a minimum of eight years to a maximum of 15 years in prison pursuant to Syrian penal laws.
Along with her Labanese husband, Nader Assad, they were arrested in Syria by the International Police in late February 2018 and were sentenced by a Kuwaiti court in absentia and meted the death penalty by hanging. They were believed to have fled Kuwait for Syria about a year before the frozen body of Demafelis was found.
The discovery of the crime prompted President Duterte to order the labor secretary to impose a total ban on the deployment of workers to Kuwait. The ban has been lifted a few months after.
Paul Ang
Source: Department of Labor and Employment
