Court cites ‘risks’ if Rody released; EJK victims hail ruling
The International Criminal Court on Friday rejected a request by former president Rodrigo Duterte to be released from detention ahead of his trial on crimes against humanity during his bloody war on drugs.
Presiding judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza ruled that lawyers for the 80-year-old had not laid out strong enough precautions to warrant a temporary release from custody in The Hague, where the court is based.
Duterte’s lawyers, appealing against an earlier refusal, had called for a “humanitarian” parole because of the state of his health.
But the judge said “the conditions for release proposed were not sufficient to mitigate the risks it found in relation to Mr Duterte’s interim release.”
The court also “rejected the defense’s argument that Mr Duterte should be released for humanitarian reasons.”
The Duterte family said it accepts the ICC Appeals Chamber’s decision denying the interim release request “with peaceful hearts.”
“We will continue to work with the defense team on the case and will keep supporting Former President Rodrigo Duterte with our daily conversations. We thank everyone who prayed with us today,” the family added.
Malacañang, for its part, said: “The International Criminal Court has already made its decision, and the Palace respects it.”
Relatives of drug war victims were satisfied with the rejection of Duterte’s interim release bid, ICC-assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said in a message to Manila Standard.
A live group watch was held in Bocobo Hall at the UP Law Center in Diliman, Quezon City where the relatives gathered to welcome the decision.
“The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), counsel for victims of the war on drugs, welcomes the decision of the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber denying Rodrigo Duterte’s plea for interim release on strong merit, factual and legal. The court noted that not only is there basis for his continued detention, that he is a flight risk; but also that the defense failed to sufficiently argue release on humanitarian grounds,” NUPL said in a statement.
“With this final decision on his request for interim release, parties can now focus on two other issues on hand – the issue of jurisdiction, raised with the Appeals Chamber; and the issue of Duterte’s fitness to stand trial, pending with the Pre-Trial Chamber,” it added.
Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022, was detained in Manila on March 11 and taken to the ICC prison at Scheveningen, near The Hague.
He appeared very weak, barely speaking, when he made his first court appearance by video.
The charges against Duterte have been made over the campaign against drug traffickers and consumers during his presidency that rights groups said left thousands dead.
The court is still to give a ruling on whether Duterte is fit to stand trial.
A ruling in October rejected claims by his defense that the ICC was not competent to judge Duterte on three charges of crimes against humanity.
One charge concerns 19 murders committed between 2013 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City. A second relates to 14 killings of alleged drug bosses in 2016 and 2017, when he was president. The third covers 43 killings of suspected low-level drug users or dealers.
The hearing for the confirmation of charges is set in 2026. —With AFP
