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| Southeast Asia |
| Philippine police extort laptops from tourist |
| 2011-02-09 |
| [Straits Times] FIVE Philippine coppers forced a German tourist to buy them laptop computers by threatening him with false drug and terrorism charges, a police chief said on Tuesday. The incident, which took place in Manila's upscale financial district of Makati, is the latest embarrassment for the country's police force. Makati police chief Senior Superintendent Froilan Bonifacio expressed outrage and said the accused coppers may have carried out similar extortion scams in the past. 'I'm not just shocked. I'm angry, for God's sake. Maybe they have been doing this thing for years,' Mr Bonifacio told AFP. The five coppers approached the German tourist at a Makati shopping mall on Jan 29 and initially accused him of buying counterfeit goods. When he denied this, they accused him of illegal drug possession, Mr Bonifacio said. When this failed to scare him, the coppers threatened to arrest the German for supporting 'terrorism'. To prove his innocence, the coppers said he must buy laptops for their station, said the police chief. |
| Posted by:Fred |