A news card claiming that the International Criminal Court has sentenced former president Rodrigo Duterte to life imprisonment is circulating online. This is fake.
At least two Facebook (FB) pages posted on June 28 a news graphic bearing the logos of ABS-CBN News and TV patrol and featuring a photo of Duterte. It carried the headline:
“Ex-Pres. Duterte hinatulan ng Reclusion Perpetua ng ICC dahil sa EJK (Ex. Pres. Duterte sentenced to Reclusion Perpetua by the ICC because of EJK).”
This is not true. The ICC has yet to decide on the former president’s case. It is still in the pre-trial stage.
The fact-checking arm of ABS-CBN News also released an advisory disowning the circulating graphic.
Duterte will undergo a confirmation of charges hearing on Sept. 23, when the judges will determine if there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. This is the second step in the investigation, following Duterte’s initial appearance on March 14 when his identity and understanding of the charges were confirmed.
The ICC can sentence Duterte up to 30 years in prison, and even for life, if he is convicted in a full-blown case.
The posts trick users into clicking a link which does not lead to the news report but to an e-commerce site. This is a common tactic in affiliate marketing used in other false posts debunked by VERA Files.
The graphic’s layout is similar to those previously fact checked by VERA Files that also used ICC-related disinformation to drive traffic to a certain website.
The post circulated three days after the victims in the ICC investigation urged the pre-trial chamber to reject Duterte’s request for interim release. The former president is currently detained at the ICC detention facility in The Hague, the Netherlands where he faces the charges related to his administration’s brutal war on drugs.
At least four posts by the FB page Ph News (created on June 20) and a post by the FB page Everyday Update (created on June 23) have so far collectively garnered 603 engagements.
