Estrada lawyers conclude defence

By Sarah Toms
BBC News, Manila

The former president still has many supporters

Lawyers for former Philippine President Joseph Estrada have ended their five-month defence at his long-running plunder trial.

Mr Estrada is being tried for illegally amassing around $80m (£42m) while in office, charges which the former leader denies.

The judges are expected to deliver a verdict early next year.

Mr Estrada was forced from office in January 2001, in an uprising triggered by allegations of corruption.

The judges are expected to start deliberating in October, but a speedy decision is unlikely as they weigh mountains of evidence.

Documentary

Mr Estrada's trial has become highly politicised and his testimony has attracted plenty of media attention in the Philippines.

He denies he took millions of dollars from tobacco taxes and an illegal gambling racket while president. He says he was framed by the Philippine elite.

Mr Estrada, a former movie star, won a landslide victory in 1998 and he still has mass popular appeal.

His website crashed earlier this week after people tried to download a new documentary film about his life.

The former president is a renowned womaniser, drinker and gambler. Philippine censors have given his video an adult only rating, banning its screening on local television.

The rating was given not for any explicit scenes in the film, but rather because the material is seen as politically subversive.