By Jonathan Hicap A prominent Australian lawyer representing the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) attended the trial of detained Senator Leila de Lima in Muntinlupa on November 8 and noted that there was limited access to her while she is in prison. Senator Leila de Lima (right) greets Australian lawyer Mark Trowell at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 during the resumption of hearing on a drug case filed against her. (Contributed photo) / MANILA BULLETIN) Mark Trowell, a trial observer for the IPU, was able to speak to De Lima as she attended the hearing at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 for case 17-165, one of the three charges she is facing for alleged conspiracy to trade illegal drugs during her time as justice secretary. This was Trowell’s second attempt to visit and attend De Lima’s trial. In May, he went to the country but the senator’s trial didn’t proceed. Trowell explained that IPU “monitors trial involving members of Parliament all over the world, including in the Philippines. Senator De Lima’s case is a special interest of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. I don’t really want to comment on the progress of the case because it’s not complete yet. And you can only really judge a case by its result.” He said his concern was that there was “limited access to Senator de Lima while she’s in prison.” “Members of Inter-Parliamentary Human Rights Committee have visited her some years ago, but it looks like the government has put in place a number of bureaucratic barriers to prevent easy access to her. I mean, she’s not a convicted person. She’s in custody, but I understand that’s because that’s the choice that she has made,” Trowell said. According to him, if he wanted to meet with De Lima in prison at Camp Crame where she is being detained, “I would need to get an endorsement from my own embassy, the Australian Embassy, that wouldn’t be a problem because they’re very supportive of her.” “But then it must go to, I think, to the Foreign Affairs Department of the Philippines. They will then make their own assessment as to whether I’m a fit and proper person to go into prison. And then of course, it goes to prison authorities. And I understand that the OK on that, the approval on that, really must be made, I think 10 days before the actual prison visit,” he said. He added, “Now, all of this is different levels of bureaucracy that prevent people, as I’ve seen. And I’m a senior lawyer in Australia, I go to prisons all the time. So, I wouldn’t think that I’m not a fit and proper person to visit her. But it’s just I don’t know why it’s so difficult to see her.” Trowell said “that’s a question you need to ask your government as to why they have imposed these very bureaucratic levels of approval to prevent someone going to see her in prison. So that’s a concern I have. That’s a comment I can make about these hearings now.” He was assigned to monitor De Lima’s trials. For many years, he was an observer of Malaysian political leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was jailed in 1999 and 2015, and was pardoned and released from prison last year. After talking to De Lima at the trial, Trowell described her as “very buoyant. You know what I mean by that? She’s very upbeat. She’s very positive. She doesn’t seem to be defeated by her circumstances. If anything, she’s very determined. She’s determined to see this through because she believes that the truth will triumph.” “And so I didn’t think that she was dangerous as some people say she is. The police and the guards are everywhere. But no, I was very much impressed by the upbeat personality and how she’s...she’s been in custody now for what, almost two years is it? More than two years. 1,000 days, that’s right. Ang being in custody can really have an effect on people. She’s a pretty determined lady,” he said of De Lima. Trowell said De Lima “was very grateful for the international support she has received, not only from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, but also other organizations as well. And I suppose when you’re in custody and you’re alone, it’s nice to know that people still remember you and still think about you, and are concerned about your fate.”