A video posted on Facebook is claiming that former president Rodrigo Duterte, who has been detained in The Hague, can now return to the Philippines after his legal team requested the International Criminal Court to indefinitely adjourn all legal proceedings against him. This is false.
As of Sept. 23, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I has yet to rule on Duterte’s motion for an indefinite adjournment of the proceedings in the crimes against humanity charges filed against him, the court’s website shows.
Published on Sept. 13, the video bore a superimposed text that read:
“Nagmosyon ang kampo ni ex-Pres. Rodrigo Duterte na hindi na ituloy ang kaso niya sa International Criminal Court.
PRRD MAKAKAUWE NA
(The camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte filed a motion to discontinue his case at the International Criminal Court
PRRD CAN NOW GO HOME)”
The spurious FB video used a report published by News5 Frontline Tonight on Sept. 13 regarding the plea submitted by Duterte’s lawyers on Aug. 18. Nowhere in the report did the anchor mention that the ex-president “can now go home.”
Duterte remains detained in the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings under his administration’s deadly war on drugs.
The video with the erroneous claim surfaced two days after the ICC released the public redacted version of the defense’s adjournment request on Sept. 11, where Duterte’s counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said the 80-year-old former president “is not fit to stand trial as a result of cognitive impairment in multiple domains.”
“With his impaired memory and concomitant inability to retain new information or to recall events, places, timing or even members of his close family and Defense team, Mr. Duterte is unable to fully understand the nature and implications of the proceedings conducted against him,” Kaufman argued.
However, the prosecution rejected Duterte’s appeal, noting that it is “in the process of engaging its own expert(s) to assist in determining Mr. Duterte’s fitness to participate in the pre-trial proceedings and to stand trial.”
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I earlier postponed the confirmation of charges hearing for Duterte, scheduled on Sept. 23, in connection with the defense’s indefinite adjournment request.
The prosecution has formally charged Duterte with three counts of murder as crimes against humanity, citing 78 victims during his so-called war on drugs, according to a 15-page redacted document published on Sept. 22 on the ICC website.
Posted by an FB user, the deceptive post has been viewed over 909,000 times. It has so far garnered 25,000 reactions, 2,400 comments and 1,000 shares.
