Islam Times - Philippines former president pleads not guilty to graft charges

Islam Times - A Philippine court has entered a not-guilty plea for the country’s former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who faces charges of graft.

The 65-year-old former president went to court in the capital Manila for the first time on Monday.

Earlier this month, she was arrested at the military Veterans Memorial Medical Center, where she was receiving treatment for a neck ailment.

Arroyo was arrested after an anti-graft court charged her with plunder for allegedly spending 366 million pesos (USD 8.8 million) from state lottery charity funds on election campaigns.

The former ruler was initially charged with election fraud last November. She was then arrested when she was trying to leave the country for medical treatment. She was released on bail in July after being detained in the same military hospital for about eight months.

The former president has denied all the charges and accused President Benigno Aquino of pursuing a political vendetta against her.

Arroyo served as the president of the Philippines between 2001 and 2010 and is now a lawmaker in the House of Representatives.