MANILA, Philippines – The prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) “strongly opposed” the request of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to be temporarily released to his chosen country, they said in a filing made public Tuesday, June 24.
“The continued detention of Mr. Duterte remains necessary because the constituent conditions set out…are met. The Prosecution, therefore, strongly opposes Mr. Duterte’s interim release to [unnamed country],” said the prosecution signed by deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang, taking the place of prosecutor Karim Khan who is on leave due to a pending sexual misconduct investigation.
This is contrary to the claim of Duterte’s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, that the prosecution has allegedly committed not to oppose the request. Kaufman wrote in the request that “the Prosecution
has confirmed its non-opposition to interim release.”
It turned out that the prosecution agreed to an interim release to another country, and not to Duterte and Kaufman’s chosen country. “No agreement whatsoever was reached with the Defense on conditions of interim release to any country other than [prosecution’s chosen country]. For absolute clarity: the Prosecution has not agreed in any way to conditions for interim release to [Duterte’s chosen country], or anywhere else in the world, other than [prosecution’s chosen country],” the prosecution’s filing said.
The prosecution said that Duterte’s chosen country “does not have a history of extensive cooperation with the Court” and noted that in one case, it was unable to implement the court’s conditions.
“The Defense’s submission that Mr. Duterte would not abscond from [his chosen country] for fear of embarrassing his hosts is highly unpersuasive given Mr. Duterte’s history of making disparaging and insulting remarks about heads of state and world leaders,” said the prosecution.
The two countries remain unknown, and are redacted in the public versions of the filing. Asked for comment, Kaufman told Rappler: “Any statement that I make will be made by way of Court filing.”
“The ICC prosecutor is now witnessing first hand the proclivity of the Duterte camp to engage in disinformation. We ought to warn the prosecutor on the dangers of dealing with the devil, so to speak,” Kristina Conti, lawyer for a group of drug war victims, said in a statement.
There are no certain timelines by which the ICC chamber can decide on the request, or the earlier request to junk the entire case based on jurisdiction. As of today, the ICC is still on track to holding the confirmation of charges hearing on September 23.
Duterte is flight risk, and can jeopardize probe – prosecution
There are three conditions in the Rome Statute for the ICC chamber to reject an interim release request, and these are:
- The suspect is flight risk
- The suspect will jeopardize the investigation if released
- The suspect will recommit the same alleged crimes if released
All of these conditions were met, according to the prosecution.
The prosecution said that the statements made by Duterte, his lawyers, family members, and other representatives about being “kidnapped” should not inspire confidence that he will subject himself to the jurisdiction of the court come hearing date on September 23.
“Mr. Duterte’s proclamations that that he would rather die than appear before the Court, or would ‘finish’ ICC staff assisting with his arrest and transfer in “a shootout,” is not consistent with the behavior of an individual committed to returning for his appearance at trial and casts doubt on his recently stated commitment,” said the prosecution.
The prosecution also does not believe the defense’s claim that Duterte is no longer as powerful and as influential as he was when he was president to be able to jeopardize the investigation. Noting the current high positions of his children, led by Vice President Sara Duterte, the prosecution said “Mr. Duterte, his family, and his associates are capable of influencing and harming witnesses as a result of their positions of power.”
The prosecution also noted the past investigations into the Davao Death Squad that did not prosper, as well as the claims of witness Arturo Lascañas about how high officials of the Duterte government tried to block the Senate investigations in 2016. “Mr. Duterte and his associates have a history of interfering with investigations against him,” said the prosecution.
While victims are “relieved” that the prosecutor has opposed the release at this time, Conti said they “remain worried that the prosecutor might be amenable to it on principle.”
“There must be a proper balance of the rights all those involved in this case. The ICC should also listen to the victims weigh in,” said Conti and added they were preparing a submission to be made through the Office of the Public Counsel for Victims. – Rappler.com
