Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pardoned a US Marine convicted of killing a transgender woman

• Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for the 2014 murder of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman in the Philippines.
• Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pardoned Pemberton on Monday.
• At the time of the pardon, Pemberton had recently been granted early release from his 10-year sentence, though the ruling had been appealed.
• Laude's family's lawyer Virgie Suarez told the Washington Post that the pardon was "revolting" and "a mockery of our judiciary and legal system."

On Monday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pardoned a US Marine convicted of killing Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman, nearly six years ago.

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted in 2015 for the 2014 murder in the country. Earlier in September, a judge granted him an early release halfway through his 10-year sentence, though Laude's lawyers blocked it with an appeal, according to Reuters.

The pardon was first announced by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr., who shared news of it on Twitter.

"Cutting matters short over what constitutes time served, and since where he was detained was not in prisoner's control — and to do justice — the president has granted an absolute pardon," Locsin said.

Duterte later told the press that he "does not need to give a reason" for the pardon, according to the Washington Post.

"We should allow him the good character presumption," he said.

Laude's family's lawyer Virgie Suarez told the Post that the pardon was "revolting" and "a mockery of our judiciary and legal system."

"There are too many Filipino convicts already in their twilight years serving their sentence," Suarez said. "Why give it [the pardon] to a foreigner, a US soldier who committed an atrocious crime?"

Pemberton, originally from New Bedford, Massachusetts, had admitted to killing Laude in October 2014, after learning she was transgender.

According to The Post, they had met at an Olongapo bar outside Subic Bay, a former US Navy base. Laude, 26, was later found dead in a motel room with a broken neck.

Pemberton, then 19, had said he acted in self-defense, and said he believed Laude was alive when he left the motel room, NPR reported. A police investigation at the time called Laude's death a "hate crime."

• Read more:
• The Philippines' largest television network, which refused to air Duterte's 2016 presidential campaign, has been forced off air, striking a blow to media freedom
• Lawyers planning to defend the suspected Kenosha gunman run a right-wing organization that brings 'lawsuits to stop the lies and smears of the radical left'
• US Marshals found 39 missing children in a 2-week operation, 15 of whom they say were sex-trafficking victims
• Kyle Rittenhouse — the teen charged with first-degree homicide over the shooting of 3 people at Kenosha protests — was obsessed with Blue Lives Matter and appeared 'on edge' before shots rang out