Former Sen. Leila de Lima Speaks on Latest Update from ICC over Charges vs. Former Pres. Duterte
LEILA DE LIMA – The former Senator reacted to the charges filed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution against former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
For six (6) months now, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is detained under the custody of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands. Supposedly, his confirmation of charges hearing was set today but was postponed after the lawyer of Duterte claimed that he is “not fit to stand trial”. His lawyer claimed that he is allegedly suffering from ‘cognitive impairment’.
According to ICC-accredited lawyer Nicholas Kaufman who leads the legal team of the former President, Duterte is allegedly unable to remember places, events, and even members of his family. He also claimed that the cognitive condition of the former President will either remain static or deteriorate further even with a medical intervention.
Following the postponement of the confirmation of charges hearing, Duterte’s camp asked the ICC to adjourn all legal proceedings indefinitely. Kaufman also expressed his hope that the Marcos Jr. administration will allow the former President’s return to the country for his interim release.
However, the hope of Duterte’s lawyer did not elicit a positive reaction from the administration. Despite the postponement of the confirmation of charges hearing, the International Criminal Court recently bared the cases filed by the prosecution against the former Philippine President.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is charged with three (3) counts of murder ‘as crimes against humanity’ before the ICC. The cases filed against him refers to the period when he was still mayor of Davao City as well as some periods during his presidential term.
Amid the disclosure of the ICC charges against Duterte, former Senator and now Mamamayang Liberal partylist Representative Leila de Lima reacted to it. Based on a post of News5 on social media, the former Senator stressed that the former President got warnings and advice from the Philippine human rights community.
“Duterte did not lack warnings and advice from the Philippine human rights community about his future accountability. He ignored all these warnings at his own peril,” De Lima said.
ML Partylist Rep. Leila de Lima is one of the staunch critics of the Duterte administration most especially his drug war. Based on the post, the former Senator is also confident that the other individuals involved in the war on drugs will also follow the former President in The Hague, Netherlands.
“His co-conspirators will follow him to the Hague soon enough,” the former Senator said.
The Duterte family has yet to speak on the charges filed against their patriarch. Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte shared that a “third country” has committed to host the interim release of her father.