Manila - The Italian ambassador to Turkmenistan has denied charges of trafficking and abusing three underage boys at a holiday resort south of the Philippine capital Manila.
Daniele Bosio, 46, was on holiday in Laguna province ealier this month when he was arrested on charges of violating child trafficking and child abuse laws.
“I did not do anything wrong and I hope this will be cleared,” Bosio told reporters on Wednesday as he presented an affidavit at the Binan Hall of Justice.
A police statement said the diplomat told investigators the boys were street children he had brought from Manila and their parents had been informed about the trip.
Bosio was detained after child rights activists saw the diplomat at the resort with the three children, and reported him to the police.
Around 40 children from the Breakthrough Christian Academy in Payatas, a poor community in Manila which Bosio had been supporting, accompanied the diplomat to the prosecutor's office.
Bosio is currently sharing a 40-square-metre cell with over 80 other inmates.
Bosio's request to get a medical check-up in Manila was granted by the prosecutor on Wednesday. Bosio's family, who have travelled to the Philippines to support him, said he has a kidney condition.
Bosio's lawyer insists his client should not have been detained in the first place as he has not been officially charged.
Sapa-dpa