Calls mount for Philippines ex-senator’s release after jail riot

Human rights activists have called for the immediate release of ex-senator Leila de Lima who was taken hostage in a rampage by three Muslim militants in a failed attempt to escape from a maximum-security jail (Aaron Favila/AP)

Human rights activists have called for the immediate release of a former Philippines opposition senator after she was taken hostage in a rampage by three Muslim militants in a failed attempt to escape from a maximum-security jail.

Police killed three Islamic State group-linked militants behind Sunday’s violence in which a police officer was stabbed and former senator Leila de Lima briefly taken hostage.