ICC postpones the confirmation of charges against Rodrigo Duterte.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the postponement of the hearing on the confirmation of charges against Rodrigo Duterte.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) did not grant former President Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release. The former president is still detained at Scheveningen Prison, The Hague. To recall, Duterte was arrested last March 11, 2025, on crimes against humanity charges over his administration’s bloody drug war.
In recent developments, the ICC announced on Monday that the hearing on the confirmation of charges against Duterte is postponed. In a press release, the ICC stated that the Pre-Trial Chamber I decided this, citing a request from Duterte’s defense team.
Supposedly, this will be held on September 23.
“Following a request from the Defence of Mr Duterte for an indefinite adjournment of the proceedings alleging that Mr Duterte is not fit to stand trial, the majority of the Chamber considered that a limited postponement of the hearing on the confirmation of charges was warranted to allow sufficient time to adjudicate the request and related matters,” it said.
Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera believed, however, that the pre-trial proceedings should have proceeded as scheduled and rejected the request. As much as we all know, the confirmation hearing is done to determine whether there is “sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged.”
Meanwhile, former Philippine Charity and Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager Royina Garma expressed willingness to be a witness for the prosecution against the former president before the ICC.
As of now, the ICC has a total of 322 so-called victim applications in the case filed against Duterte. From this number, 18 applications were registered in the database of the ICC’s Victims Participation and Reparations Section (VPRS) and were not considered at the present stage of proceedings, and 35 had been submitted to Pre-Trial Chamber I, which were divided into three groups.
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