The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands upheld Friday the Sept. 26 ruling (released Oct.10) of the tribunal’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1, rejecting former president Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release.
The five-person appellate chamber unanimously rejected all three grounds that Duterte’s lawyers raised to reverse the pre-trial chamber’s decision, saying the defense team “failed to demonstrate error” in PTC’s assessment.
On Nov. 25, Duterte, through his lead lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, filed a signed waiver of his right to be present during the proceedings.
In a decision read in open court by Presiding Judge Luz del Carmen Ibañez, the Appeals Chamber noted that while Duterte’s medical condition may be a reason for the PTC to grant interim release subject to conditions, it has reasonably concluded that this did not mitigate the risks laid out under the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC.
One of the grounds Duterte’s appeal raised was PTC’s supposed failure to consider humanitarian grounds by denying the former president a temporary release despite his “infirm and debilitated” medical condition.
His defense team argued that the PTC failed to consider Duterte’s medical condition as a possible factor that could negate risks in relation to his capacity to abscond or interfere with proceedings.
On the defense team’s contention that Duterte is not a flight risk given his old age, the Appeals Chamber ruled that it was reasonable for the PTC to conclude that Duterte’s “political contacts” and “network of support in the Philippines” can help him escape trial.
It rejected the defense team’s argument that PTC judges based their decision on “hypothetical” risks and noted that the law only requires showing the “possibility not the inevitability” of someone absconding.
Following the decision of the Appeals Chamber, the Duterte family said they “accept the decision with peaceful hearts” and will continue coordinating with the former president’s counsel and defense team.
Duterte is currently detained at the Scheveningen Facility in The Hague while awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity in relation to the extrajudicial killings during his tenure as Davao City mayor and the country’s president while the Philippines was a state party to the Rome Statute from November 2011 to March 2019.
Several minutes after the Appeals Chamber’s announcement of its decision, vlogger Alvin Sarzate, a Duterte supporter in The Hague, posted on social media a statement from Kaufman: “The ICC Appeals Chamber has never affirmed the interim release of a person charged with crimes against humanity. The defense awaits the results of the medical evaluation of the former president due next month and will reintroduce its request to release a man who is 80 years old and, as a result of debilitating physical and cognitive conditions, is incapable of flight or, as alleged, threats to witnesses.”
Duterte was initially scheduled for a confirmation of charges hearing on Sept. 3, but it was postponed after Kaufman argued he was unfit to stand trial.
Here are other reactions on the ICC Appeals Chamber’s ruling:
Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV: “Now that the interim release has been finalized, I hope the leaders of the Duterte camp don’t give their supporters any more hope. Duterte will no longer be free as compensation for the thousands of Filipinos he is killing.”
Trillanes IV, along with former Magdalo partylist representative Gary Alejano, was among the first who had asked the ICC to investigate Duterte in his bloody campaign against illegal drugs, after the Philippine government had shown no interest to make the former mayor of Davao City accountable for his alleged crimes against humanity.
Human rights lawyer Edre Olalia, president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and chairperson of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers: “Mr. Duterte, you are not going anywhere. You are staying where you rightfully are.”