The ICC prosecutor opposed the request of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) opposes the interim release request of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
June 19 marked the 100th day of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s detention under the International Criminal Court (ICC). To recall, Duterte was arrested last March by the authorities after Interpol Manila received a copy of the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He was then flown to the Netherlands and has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since. He is being held for alleged crimes against humanity, which he committed during his time as president through his war against drugs that left 6,000 people dead; however, human rights groups reported that at least 20,000 were killed.
On June 12, Duterte’s camp formally submitted a request for interim release, and on June 23, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC opposed the request, calling on the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to junk the request.
In a 15-page filing dated June 23, Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang cited the reasons why he must not be granted interim release from detention. According to the statement, the continued detention is necessary to ensure his appearance at trial.
The prosecution argued that while the defense expressed a commitment to returning for trial when called, he had said it before to the arresting officers that they would have to kill him first to bring him to The Hague and present him before the court.
“Duterte’s proclamations 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 behaviour of an individual committed to returning for his appearance at trial and casts doubt on his recently stated commitment,” said the prosecution.
Another point cited was when the defense expressed to not continue to commit crimes if released. The prosecutor recalled his previous statement about running for mayor of Davao City and vowed to “double” the killings the “moment I return”.
“As noted above, Duterte has since won the Davao Mayoral election and his family has consistently stated their intention to bring him home to the Philippines,” the prosecution stated.
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