Philippine prosecutor sends subpoena to 6 US marines accused of rape

A Philippine prosecutor's office Tuesday summoned six US marines to appear before his office in Olongapo City in Subic Bay to answer the rape charges against them filed by a 22-year-old Filipino woman, said Philippine officials.

The subpoena was handed over to the US embassy officials by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice in accordance with the Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement ( VFA).

In the subpoena sent by Olongapo City prosecutor Prudencio Jalandoni, the servicemen are required to appear before the City Prosecutor's Office in Olongapo on November 23 and 29.

The summoned are Chad Carpentier, Daniel Smith, Corey Burris, Albert Lara, Keith Silkwood, and Dominic Duplantis, all of whom are currently in the custody of the US embassy.

A separate subpoena was also issued to the complainant, a 22- year-old Filipino woman from Zamboanga in southern Philippines who said she was raped by the US marines when she visited Subic Bay on Nov. 1.

The subpoenas also asked the US suspects to submit their counter-affidavits, list of witnesses, and documents they will use for their trial within 10 days.

The accused US Marines had recently joined a large-scale joint US-Philippine military exercise in Subic Bay, a former US navy base some 80 kilometers northwest of Manila.

Source: Xinhua