BRITISH national Ian Charles Griffiths, one of the persons accused in the kidnap-slay of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique in 2011, intends to undergo trial before a court in Cebu.
In a motion filed by his lawyer Rameses Victorius Villagonzalo before the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 6, Griffiths wants to the court to determine the place of his detention pending bail application or trial, schedule of hearings, complete list of prosecution witnesses, and appearance of private prosecutors.
The motion for chamber conference was filed Monday, March 6.
Griffiths and his Cebuana girlfriend Bella Ruby Santos were charged with kidnapping with homicide for the death of Pique.
The case against Santos was dismissed in October 2014 after RTC Branch 6 Judge Ester Veloso said the prosecution failed to show beyond reasonable doubt that Santos was the one who kidnapped Pique while she was walking home from school with friends on February 8, 2011.
Veloso ruled there was insufficient evidence against Santos.
Griffiths had not gone on trial as he was already in London when the charges were filed.
Local courts cannot force Griffiths to face trial because the governments of the Philippines and United Kingdom have no extradition treaty. (KAL/VoxPop Cebu)