Igitol clan holds rally in front of DOC

Some 50 members of the Igitol clan held a peaceful rally in front of the Department of Corrections in Susupe Saturday to ensure that prisoner Akilino P. Elyeisar would not be freed that day.

The Tanapag-based Igitol clan, including the Teigitas, Teregeyos, Camachos, and Santoses, arrived at 5pm and positioned themselves in front of the Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Facing the Department of Corrections, the rallyists held a big banner with the picture of Vickyann Maratita Igitol, a domestic violence victim who died of injuries inflicted by her boyfriend, Elyeisar.

The banner also read: “Domestic violence, it’s a crime, it kills, and it should not be tolerated.”

After they were assured by a Corrections official that Elyeisar would not be freed after a Superior Court judge signed an arrest warrant for the prisoner’s deportation case, the group dispersed at 6:30pm.

Alice Igitol, mother of victim Vickyann M. Igitol, told the Saipan Tribune that they decided to hold a rally to make sure that DOC would not release Elyeisar, who was set to come out at 6pm that day.

“We just sit there, put the banner out. We were not shouting. The rally was peaceful,” she said.

She said they felt good when a DOC official informed them that Elyeisar would not be released because of an arrest warrant signed by a judge after the government filed a deportation case against him.

“We want him deported. We don’t want him to come out from jail. He is dangerous to the community,” Alice Igitol said.

She added that until now they are disappointed with Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja for granting a plea agreement that gave a “very lenient sentence on Elyeisar.

“He’s [Naraja] the only person who could have stopped the agreement. He should have let the people decide,” Alice Igitol stressed.

On Jan. 31, 2006, Naraja imposed a 22-month jail term on Elyeisar.

In accepting the plea agreement, Naraja said Elyeisar is sentenced to 22 months in prison with credit for the time he already spent in jail since May 18, 2004.

The judge said after serving the jail term, the defendant will be placed on 38 months of supervised probation.

During the probationary period, Elyeisar will be required to attend counseling at the Community Guidance Center and perform 100 hours of community work service.

The plea agreement also mentioned that after completing the sentence, the government would commence a deportation proceeding against the defendant.

Court records show that police responded to a residence in Kagman on May 13, 2004, based on a call of a neighbor who suspected a domestic violence incident.

But Vickyann Igitol told responding police she just fell from a stool while she was trying to reach something from the top of their cabinet.

A few days later, however, Vickyann Igitol reportedly confided to her father what really happened. The victim’s body from the neck down was paralyzed until she died of complications a few weeks later.

A medical examiner concluded in his autopsy report that the victim’s death was a homicide and not due to an accident from a fall.

Elyeisar signed a plea agreement and entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault and battery. The AGO agreed to drop the remaining charges.