IN BRIEF

Abu leads oath-taking of new Coast Guard officers

More than 2,000 individuals including Filipinos and foreigners were rescued from the alleged illegal POGO operation.

In a letter to the PNP, Ananias Christian Vargas of Vargas Law Office, rep - resenting Xinchuang, said that the authorities held the victims for more than 72 hours and they failed to file any case which is a clear violation of their rights and is considered arbitrary detention.

Vargas also said that the foreign nationals signed documents without assistance from their lawyers, and added that they also received a report that eight foreign nationals were allegedly abused and assaulted by the authorities and three of them, all Chinese nationals, had major injuries on their bodies.

In a statement, PNP Public Information Office chief Police BGen. Re - drico Maranan meanwhile said that the 2,714 workers earlier taken into custody during the operation would be released once they have completed their profiling work.

Maranan also denied that human rights violations were committed by the police when the operation was carried out and assured that the police force would conduct a full and impartial investigation into the said operation.

The PNP’s statement came after the legal representatives of Xinchuang Network Technology, demanded an investigation into alleged abuses