An Adelaide man recalled his horrifying memory of being caught in the Philippine drug scandal and execution.
Thirty-five-year-old Damien Berg claimed he was innocent but was caught in the merciless war on drugs in the nation by “the Punisher” President Rodrigo Duterte. However, he was fortunate enough to get proof of his innocence in the form of a CCTV footage that put a halt to his execution for selling drugs in the Philippines.
Berg was arrested in June and underwent imprisonment, trial, and acquittal for drug dealing in the Philippines, a crime he was not involved in. It was his first weekend in Australia after the arrest and his proven innocence. “In a split second, my life was gone. I was taken away from my pregnant girlfriend, I lost my job,” Berg told AAP.
Police claimed that Berg was caught red handed in a street buy-bust operation. He was found selling 50 ecstasy tablets to Jeremy Eaton, a Canadian man, on June 20 in Makati City, the officers said. On the other hand, the CCTV footage showed that the Adelaide man was not arrested from the venue of the sting operation but from Red Planet Hotel located nearby.
The video also revealed that Berg was not selling drugs but was involved in some job-related work. He worked as the commercial manager for First Balfour, an engineering company. It was revealed that the police entered his room and dragged him out with his hands tied.
The footage was obtained weeks after the acquittal of the Adelaide man on September 15.
The “drug war” came into existence as soon as Duterte took over as the president of the Philippines. 9News reported that over 3,000 people have been killed by police officials in the Philippines in the name of the merciless war against drug dealing.
Online Source: Australia Network News.
