Joana Demafelis employer has been convicted of murder in Syria

The Syrian District Criminal Court has found the employer of slain overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Joanna Demafelis guilty of murder, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported Monday.

The DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs identified Demafelis’ employer as Syrian national Mouna Ali Hassoun.

This is the second conviction meted on employers Mouna Ali Hassoun and Nader Essam Assaf. The first was in April 2018, when the Philippines was informed of the decision of a Kuwaiti court that sentenced both to death by hanging.

Hassoun, a Syrian national, was arrested in Syria since last year. Assaf, her Lebanese husband, is also charged with murder in Lebanon.

The Lebanese-Syrian couple were arrested in the Syrian capital of Damascus following an Interpol manhunt in February 2018. But while Syrian authorities handed over Assaf to Lebanese authorities, they kept custody of Hassoun since she was a Syrian citizen.

The DFA said Hassoun is expected to receive a prison sentence ranging from 8 to 15 years. Assaf, meanwhile, faces murder charges in Lebanon where his trial is still ongoing.

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