Rodrigo Duterte Allowed By ICC To Skip Confirmation Of Charges

ICC grants the request of Rodrigo Duterte to skip the confirmation of charges hearing.

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber approved the request of the former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“I do not wish to attend legal proceedings that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me.”

This is what former President Rodrigo Duterte expressed in a statement submitted by his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday, February 18. As much as we all know, the first day of the confirmation of charges hearing is set for Monday, February 23.

The ICC pre-trial chamber judges were given until Friday, February 20, to determine their next course of action. Recently, they granted the former president permission to skip next week’s confirmation of charges hearing related to his anti-drug campaign. Duterte was accused of crimes against humanity.

“The Chamber hereby grants the request; decides that the hearing on the confirmation of charges will be held in the absence of Mr. Duterte,” the Chamber said in a document dated February 20.

The confirmation of charges hearing will be held on February 23, February 24, February 26, and February 27.

Meanwhile, the chamber instructed Duterte’s camp, the ICC prosecutors, and the victims’ common legal representatives to state whether specific submissions can be disclosed to the public or should be redacted.

In a previous article, Senator Bong Go denied being a co-perpetrator in the war on drugs of Duterte.

Based on the recent documents released amid the ongoing investigation, these were the eight (8) alleged “co-perpetrators” of Duterte: