ICC prosecutor says Duterte remains flight risk and 'may commit further crimes' if granted interim release
The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court maintained the potential risks of granting the pre-trial interim release of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“The Prosecution has demonstrated through multiple filings that Mr. Duterte, if granted interim release, would be a flight risk, is likely to interfere with the proceedings, and may commit further crimes,” the prosecutor wrote in a publicly redacted document.
Titled “Prosecution’s response to ‘Defence Notification’,” the record argued against the position of Duterte’s defense team, which insists that the former president’s detention has been unnecessarily long.
The prosecution pointed out that it was the defense that caused the trial delays in the first place.
This comes after Duterte’s defense lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said his client is experiencing cognitive difficulties, making him unable to fully cooperate with legal proceedings.
Duterte “is not even able to process the reasons for his detention,” Kaufman said in a Sept. 11 publicly redacted document released by the ICC. Given the 80-year-old’s alleged need for medical help, his defense team moved to postpone the Sept. 23 hearing on the confirmation of the charges against him.
The move, per the prosecution, caused the delays that the defense is now objecting to.
“The Defence has unnecessarily delayed the proceedings by waiting until five months after Mr Duterte’s initial appearance, following the deadline for the Prosecution’s pretrial disclosure, the Document Containing the Charges and the Pre-Confirmation Brief, to file its challenge regarding his fitness to stand trial,” the prosecution wrote in its recently filed document.
In addition, the prosecution noted that in the five months between Duterte’s initial appearance and the defense’s filing for a postponement of the Sept. 23 hearing, the former president was able to instruct his team to request to excuse two ICC judges from participating in his case, citing “perceived bias.”
The prosecution further stated that Duterte’s ability to issue this instruction directly contradicts the defense’s claim that the former president’s fitness since his initial appearance has been on a steady decline.
In its filed document, the prosecution wrote that “given the significant delays caused by the Defence, it cannot now, in earnest, point to a potential delay to argue that the length of Mr. Duterte’s pre-trial detention militates in favor of his release.”
Duterte has been at the ICC since March 12.
He was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on March 11 following a warrant of arrest issued by the ICC via the International Criminal Police Organization.
He has been accused of being an "indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder pursuant to Article 7 (1)(a) of the Rome Statute."
Specifically, he was allegedly involved in the murder of at least 19 persons reported to be drug pushers or thieves who were killed by members of the Davao Death Squad in various locations in or around Davao City between 2011 and 2016, as well as the murder of at least 24 alleged criminals who were killed by or under the supervision of members of the Philippines law enforcement at various locations in the country between 2016 and 2019 during his term as president.
He could be the first Asian former head of state to be indicted by the ICC.
If the charges against him are confirmed during his pre-trial hearing, it could take months before the case eventually goes on trial. A final judgment may be rendered after years.