ICC Bares Charges vs. Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte over his Drug War
RODRIGO DUTERTE – The former Philippine President is faced with three (3) counts of murder ‘as crimes against humanity’ before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Former Pres. Duterte is under the custody of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands since March when the Philippine authorities assisted the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for his arrest. The arrest took place upon his arrival from Hong Kong.
On the same day that he was arrested on March 11, the former President was flown to Dubai en route to The Hague, Netherlands for the transfer of his custody to the ICC. He is faced with an allegation of crimes against humanity before the foreign court.
The confirmation of charges hearing of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte was supposedly held today but the ICC postponed it. The decision of the court came after Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, claimed that his client is allegedly “not fit to stand trial”.
Kaufman claimed that former Pres. Duterte is allegedly suffering from ‘cognitive impairment’. According to the British-Israeli Lawyer, the former President is unable to recall events, places, and even close members of his family.
Amid his detention, the Duterte family members and relatives are taking turns in visiting the former President inside the ICC detention facility. According to his family, despite his arrest and detention, Duterte maintained that everything he did was for the country and the Filipino people.
Recently, the International Criminal Court bared the charges filed against former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the ICC released a redacted version of the summary and details of the criminal charges filed against the former Chief Executive.
Based on the “Document Containing the Charges” submitted by the Office of the Prosecutor, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is facing three (3) counts of alleged murder as a crime against humanity. Based on the report, the first count refers to the time when he was still mayor of Davao between 2013 to 2016 while the second count is against “‘high-value targets’ in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period between 2016 to 2017”.
The third count refers to the period when Duterte was already President between 2016 and 2018. Based on the report, the ICC prosecution identified the former President’s participation in the alleged crimes as either an “indirect co-perpetrator, and/or by ordering and/or inducing, and/or aiding and abetting”.
Duterte’s lawyer as well as the family of the former President have yet to react on the matter. Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that a “third country” committed to host the interim release of former Pres. Duterte.