Expelled Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. has been provisionally released from Becora Prison in Dili City, Timor-Leste pending his extradition trial, his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio confirmed on Monday.

“Rep. Arnolfo Teves was released from preventive detention pending his extradition trial, my Timor-Leste counterparts informed me, because the request for extradition by the Philippine Government was made out of time and in a manner that is not sanctioned by practice and customary international law,” Topacio said.

“In other words, our government ‘screwed up.’ Thus, his imprisonment was declared illegal,” Topacio added. Nonetheless, the Timor-Leste courts will still conduct hearings on the Philippine government’s extradition plea, he conceded.

In response, Department of Justice spokesperson Mico Clavano said the “release and subsequent re-arrest of the former congressman from prison to the Polícia Nacional of Timor Leste is part of the country’s process.”