To be informed of alleged crimes, rights as defendant

Former President Rodrigo Duterte appeared for the first time before the International Criminal Court Friday evening (9 p.m. Manila time) to face crimes against humanity charges over his deadly war on drugs.

The 79-year-old Duterte was set to be informed of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, as well as his rights as a defendant.

Duterte, the first Asian head of state to face ICC charges, stands accused of the crime against humanity of murder over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups said killed thousands.

His legal team, however, will seek a postponement of the first hearing, lawyer Harry Roque said.

“We have our reasons. We will seek to pstpone this first hearing,” Roque, an ICC-accredited lawyer who is also facing qualified human trafficking charges in the Philippines, said in his Facebook Live outside the visiting area at the ICC.

Roque likewise filed a motion to be recognized as part Duterte’s legal counsel.

“Right now, there is only one recognized lawyer—Atty. Medialdea. But we have already filled up the documents so I can join the team of counsels,” Roque said.

Duterte on Thursday tapped his former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea as one of his legal counsels for the pre-trial proceeding.

The two flew together to The Netherlands late Tuesday evening after Duterte was arrested by authorities upon his return to Manila from Hong Kong.

Roque said they have also filed the necessary forms to allow Vice President Sara Duterte, who is present at The Hague as a family member, to visit her father in detention.

However, the Vice President, who was also seen with Senator Robin Padilla, declined to give any comment.

For his part, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte said he intends to join his siblings at The Netherlands to see his father.

In the prosecutor’s application for his arrest, they said Duterte’s alleged crimes were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in the Philippines.”

“Potentially tens of thousands of killings were perpetrated,” the prosecutor alleged about the campaign that targeted mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

Victims’ families have welcomed the trial as a chance to get justice, while Duterte supporters believe he was “kidnapped” and sent to The Hague amid a spectacular fall-out with the ruling Marcos family.

A group of family members, lawyers and human rights activists was set to gather in Manila on Friday night to watch a livestream of the ICC hearing, said organizers Rise Up and the Duterte Accountability Campaign Network.

According to international law experts, his whirlwind arrest and surrender to the ICC marks a welcome boon for the embattled court, which is being attacked from all sides and sanctioned by the United States.

“I see the arrest and handing over of Duterte as a gift at an important moment in time,” Willem van Genugten, Professor of International Law at Tilburg University in The Netherlands, told Agence France Presse.

The hearing is due to take place at the hulking glass headquarters of the ICC based in The Hague. Pro- and anti-Duterte protests are expected outside.

As he landed in The Hague, the former leader appeared to accept responsibility for his actions, saying in a Facebook video: “I have been telling the police, the military, that it was my job and I am responsible.”

In his application for arrest, the prosecutor quotes from some of Duterte’s more colorful pronouncements when he was running for president.

Duterte is cited as saying the number of criminal suspects killed “will become 100,000… I will kill all of you” and the fish in Manila Bay “will become fat because that’s where I will throw you.”

Duterte has undergone health checks during his detention in The Hague.

The Philippine embassy in The Hague said on its website the former president told a consular official he had “received medical care and that he is generally fine.”

At the initial hearing, a suspect can request interim release pending a trial, according to ICC rules.

Following that first hearing, the next phase is a session to confirm the charges, at which point a suspect can challenge the prosecutor’s evidence.

Only after that hearing will the court decide whether to press ahead with a trial, a process that could take several months or even years.

Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan hailed Duterte’s arrest as a key moment for victims and international justice as a whole.

“Many say that international law is not as strong as we want, and I agree with that. But as I also repeatedly emphasize, international law is not as weak as some may think,” Khan said in a statement following Duterte’s arrival in ICC custody.

As this developed, Malacañang said while the government funded the flight that transported Duterte to The Hague, he will be responsible for all other expenses, including legal fees.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro explained the transportation expense was part of the government’s assistance to Interpol.

“As a Filipino—not just because he is a former president—the government must ensure that Duterte gets a fair trial, especially because he is a Filipino,” Castro said.

“(But) even for the complainants, the government really will not shoulder that (legal fees) because they have their own lawyers, and like we said, we do not have any responsibility or hand over the ICC proceedings,” the Palace official added.

Human rights groups said Duterte must not be give any special treatment in his trial at The Hague.

“He should not be entitled to special treatment considering that the detention facility is well-equipped to assist him, and that the potential risks of interfering or subverting the processes of the court is great,” the groups led by the National Union of People’s Lawyers said in a statement. With AFP