An Australian-raised public health expert facing life behind bars on drug charges has broken his silence to proclaim his innocence and allege he was framed by police.
Elden Chamberlain, 60, has been detained in Cagayan de Oro City Jail ever since Philippines Drug Enforcement Agency officers stormed his home in a dramatic arrest in February last year.
He’s been accused of selling 1,000 Philippine pesos ($27) of methamphetamine and being in possession of the drug, charges he says are ‘entirely false.’
Mr Chamberlain, who’s internationally renowned for his work in public health and HIV/AIDS, had been living in Cagayan de Oro and working with the Global Fund for HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria when he and colleague Ace Lanzaderas were arrested.
Elden Chamberlain (pictured before his arrest) has spent the last 19 months behind bars
Mr Chamberlain insists he would never risk his ‘comfortable’ life to get involved in a drug deal, adding that 1,000 pesos ‘would not even buy a bottle of wine.’
He alleged the claims against him were fabricated by police and hopes the officers will be held accountable for their ‘despicable actions’.
He hopes the charges will be dismissed within the next few months and vowed to get on the first flight out of the country as soon as he’s released.
‘For evil to flourish, it takes good men to do nothing. And I want to be a good man,’ Mr Chamberlain told The West Australian from jail.
‘Nothing will change here unless people speak out. I think it’s important to speak out for everyone here who is caught up in the same horror that I am.’
His defence case was due to start on Thursday.
Mr Chamberlain is baffled as to why he was targeted by PDEA officers but believes it may have been due to his work helping drug users access health treatment for HIV.
‘My whole working life has been to protect and support the most at-risk in our communities to HIV, TB and substance misuse,’ he said.
‘I have directed my working life to ensure that people who are substance users receive the care and treatment they need. It makes no sense that I would do anything so heinous as to contribute to creating substance use and addiction — the very conditions I fight against.’
Mr Chamberlain recalled the moment his life changed forever one night in February 2022 which left him fearing for this life.
Elden Chamberlain is fighting for the drugs charges to be dismissed and be freed from jail
The internationally renowned public health expert is currently detained in Cagayan de Oro City Jail (pictured) in the Philippines
He had just finished a business phone call and was relaxing in front of the TV with a glass of wine when 30 armed officers stormed inside his home in a gated community.
‘As the last one came through the door and shoved me to the floor, he yelled out: ‘Buy bust.’ I was held at gunpoint on the living room floor, as was Ace (his co-accused), who had been sitting at the table doing some work. And these people just ran riot through the house,’ Mr Chamberlain recalled.
He claimed the pair were dragged upstairs into a darkened room by police who then held them at gunpoint.
‘Honestly, I thought I was going to die,’ Mr Chamberlain said.
‘They are known for just killing people … and I thought, that was it. We are going to be shot.’
His arrest occurred under former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ which led to thousands being killed.
Human Rights Watch has found police, including the PDEA, falsified evidence to justify killings, which is now subject to an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Mr Chamberlain is a British citizen but grew up in Western Australia’s south-west before moving to Perth where he graduated from Curtin University.
He has dedicated his career to public health which has included working with the likes of the United Nations USAID and AusAID
He still has family living in Western Australia, who are devastated about Mr Chamberlain’s plight and hope a positive outcome will be reached.
Elden Chamberlain (pictured speaking at a MENA Coalition on HIV and Human Rights conference in 2018) described the drug charges as ‘ludicrous’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk