The prosecution at the International Criminal Court has urged Trial Chamber III to dismiss a defense motion challenging the addition of eight incidents to its trial brief in the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The defense earlier asked the chamber to require the prosecution to seek authorization before adding the incidents or remove them, arguing they “exceed the facts and circumstances described in the charges.”
In a five-page response, acting Prosecutor Maame Mandaye Niang said the motion had no basis, maintaining that the charges against Duterte remained unchanged despite the additional incidents.
“The defense is incorrect both in asserting that the prosecution has ‘effectively sought to amend the charges’ and in suggesting that there is any need for the trial chamber’s further permission to bring evidence of these additional incidents,” Niang said.
Niang said the eight incidents fall within the scope of the three counts of murder and attempted murder as confirmed by Pre-Trial Chamber I.
“They occurred ‘in locations across the Philippines;’ were perpetrated by members of the national network; involved victims alleged to be either ‘high-value targets’ (Incidents 56 and 57) or ‘lower level’ criminals (Incidents 50 to 55); and occurred during Duterte’s presidency between around July 2016 and July 2017,” the prosecution said.
The prosecution also rejected the defense argument that one of the incidents fell outside the period covered by Count 2.
“The defense takes issue with Incident 57 occurring two weeks after [REDACTED] 2017, ignoring the chamber’s express incorporation of the word ‘around’ and therefore misinterpreting [REDACTED] 2017 as a fixed endpoint,” it said.
Duterte is facing crimes against humanity charges before the ICC over alleged killings linked to his antidrug campaign between Nov. 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.
