Estrada launches last-ditch efforts to avoid criminal indictment

In a 57-page motion, Estrada urged the Supreme Court to reconsider its March 2 decision stripping him of the presidency and immunity from criminal prosecution.

The tribunal also upheld the legitimacy of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's succession to the top post after Estrada was ousted by a military-backed mass uprising on January 20.

The 63-year-old former movie action star sought a "re-argument" of his suit against Arroyo and a 60-day cooling-off period" preventing state prosecutors from filing formal charges against him.

Lawyer Rene Saguisag argued that the Supreme Court based its decision on "hearsay" when it cited newspaper accounts and a published diary of Estrada's former executive secretary in ruling that his client had already resigned.

"It is unfortunate enough that this honorable court assumed an intent (to resign) on the part of Estrada - an assumption he categorically asserts was not in his mind - on the basis of hearsay news accounts," he said.

"The honorable court has clearly shown that it was influenced by hearsay news accounts," he added.

Saguisag also stressed that Estrada's abandonment of the presidential palace to avoid bloodshed should not be considered as a resignation, saying, "One is never blamed for leaving a house when an approaching fire threatens to raze it down."

The appeal was filed three days before the expiration of a 30-day order prohibiting state prosecutors from filing several cases of bribery, graft and economic plunder against Estrada at the Sandiganbayan, a special anti-graft court.

Estrada faces arrest once the Sandiganbayan court finds probable cause in the cases since one of the charges, plunder or the theft of public funds in excess of 50 million pesos (1.05 million dollars), is a non-bailable offence punishable by death.

In the motion, Saguisag asked nine of the 13 justices who are hearing the case to recuse themselves, leaving only three magistrates to decide on the appeal.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide and Associate Justice Artemio Panganiban earlier recused themselves from the proceedings after Estrada claimed they were obviously biased for Arroyo.

Davide presided over the swearing-in of Arroyo, while Artemio and the nine other justices who have been asked to recuse themselves attended the oath-taking ceremony before hundreds of thousands of protesters along a Manila highway.

ms (Quelle: dpa)

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