Facebook posts claim that witnesses in the trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court want to return to the Philippines after being barred from speaking in Tagalog during their testimony. This is false.
Published on Nov. 6, the thumbnail carried the headline:
“EJK witnesses gusto ng umuwi dahil hindi pinayagan ng judge magtagalog (EJK [extrajudicial killing] witnesses want to go home because the judge did not allow them to speak Tagalog).”
There are no statements confirming that relatives of victims who will stand as witnesses in Duterte’s trial want to return to the Philippines after a judge barred them from using Tagalog during their testimonies.
The ICC Trial Chamber I denied the use of the Filipino language only during the opening statement of the victims’ counsels.
The false claims circulated starting Nov. 2, when Presiding Judge Joanna Korner said allowing the use of Tagalog in the opening statements of the counsels could complicate the proceedings and drive up trial expenses.
Korner did not say that the witnesses may not speak Tagalog on the stand.
Lawyer Kristina Conti, an assistant to counsel at the ICC, clarified that an interpreter would be provided to translate.
“Pwede nilang gamitin ang lenggwahe kung saan sila kumportable, lalo na’t may interpreters naman sa court ng Tagalog at Cebuano/Bisaya. Hindi pinagbawal ng court ang pagsasalita ng Filipino o Bisaya ng witnesses, kung yun ang naiintindihan nila,” Conti said in an FB post on Nov. 4.
(They can use the language they are comfortable with, especially since there are Tagalog and Cebuano/Bisaya interpreters in court. The court does not disallow witnesses from speaking Filipino or Bisaya if that is what they understand.)
Conti warned of the dangers of similar content circulating that are “misleading” and “malicious’.
Duterte’ trial for violation of human rights is set to begin on Nov. 30.
As of writing, the post published by FB page Sakay Commentary (created April 19, 2009) and an FB user has garnered 8,200 reactions; 1,118 comments; and 290 shares.
