Anger in the Philippines as 'political prisoner' denied the right to hold her dying baby

The harsh treatment of a young human rights worker whose newborn baby died while she was in jail on what her supporters claim are trumped up charges has sparked widespread anger in the Philippines. River, the three-month-old daughter of Reina Mae Nasino, tragically died of pneumonia just weeks after she was torn from her inconsolable mother despite a concerted campaign to keep the pair together and allow the infant to be nurtured and breastfed. The controversy has gripped a country where the contrast of the alleged VIP treatment of rich and well-connected prison inmates has already sparked deep-seated resentment within the general population. Ms Nasino, 23, who worked for the urban poverty group Kadamay, was arrested in November 2019 during a mass crackdown by President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration on dozens of Left-leaning activists. She and two colleagues in the same office were charged with the illegal possession of firearms and explosives, which all three denied and said were planted by the authorities as a pretext to jail them.

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