ICC DENIES DUTERTE APPEAL FOR TEMPORARY RELEASE

THE International Criminal Court has unanimously rejected former President Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal for interim release, upholding an earlier ruling that he must remain locked up while facing charges of crimes against humanity.

In a public hearing on Friday, Presiding Judge Luz del Carmen Ibañez Carranza said Duterte’s defense had “failed to demonstrate an error” in Pre-Trial Chamber I’s determination that he poses a flight risk.

The former Philippine president’s legal team had raised three grounds of appeal: that the Pre-Trial Chamber erroneously concluded he poses a risk under the Rome Statute; that it improperly rejected guarantees proposed by the State willing to receive him; and that it erred by not considering humanitarian factors in assessing his right to interim release.

The Appeals Chamber, composed of Carranza, Judge Tomoko Akane, Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze and Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin, rejected all three grounds and unanimously confirmed the pre-trial chamber’s earlier ruling.

In its 23-page decision released on Oct. 10, Pre-Trial Chamber I pointed to the Duterte family’s public rejection of his arrest, their calls for his immediate return to the Philippines, and his reported wish to go back to Davao City if released — all of which, it said, demonstrate his rejection of the proceedings and his family’s willingness to help him evade detention and prosecution.

The appeals court noted that the pre-trial chamber’s conclusions were based on a comprehensive assessment of the risks outlined in Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute.

Carranza explained that the chamber relied on various documents, including media articles, NGO publications and books, which indicated Duterte’s inclination to interfere with investigations against him.

The former president waived his right to attend the hearing by submitting a signed notice through his lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, instructing his legal team to hear the judgment without him. The ruling on Friday was livestreamed from The Hague at 5:30 p.m. Manila time.

Duterte has been held at the ICC’s Scheveningen Prison in the Netherlands since his March 12 arrest. He is accused of crimes against humanity relating to three counts of murder over 49 killings in his violent “war on drugs” as Davao City mayor and later as president.