The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I on Monday decided to postpone the September 23 confirmation hearing of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s case.
Duterte’s defense team requested an indefinite adjournment of the proceedings, alleging he is not fit to stand trial.
The majority of the chamber considered that the hearing’s limited postponement was warranted to “allow sufficient time to adjudicate the request and related matters.”
“The Chamber will, if applicable, set a specific date once it has addressed such outstanding matters,” the ICC said in a press release.
Only Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera dissented, expressing that the request from Duterte’s defense should have been rejected and the pre-trial proceedings continued, including the confirmation of charges hearing.
The purpose of the confirmation of charges hearing is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged.
Duterte is accused of committing murder as a crime against humanity before the ICC over alleged extrajudicial killings during his war on drugs, which killed thousands.
A lawyer representing relatives of those killed in Duterte’s drug war said they were disappointed with the ICC decision.
“We expected that Duterte would do this, but the fact that he was able to convince the pre-trial chamber to postpone that indefinitely is scary,” Kristina Conti told Agence France Presse (AFP).
“Some of us were very angry because there was a schedule and everyone was ready.”
Conti urged ICC judges to “see through the lies” and proceed to trial, adding: “we have no other hope than to hope” that he will face justice.
Duterte stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign that prosecutors allege were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in the Philippines.” — With Agence France Presse
