Legal minds familiar with how the International Criminal Court operates say requests for former President Rodrigo Duterte’s interim release by the Court are unlikely to be granted even as a former senior justice of the Philippine Supreme Court opined that notwithstanding the questions on whether his arrest was legal or not, the ICC trial of Duterte will continue unimpeded.

Former Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Monday said lawyers for the former president are free to question the legality of Duterte’s arrest by local law enforcement authorities acting on the International Criminal Police Organization’s (Interpol) request for cooperation on the matter last 11 March, but “they will not prosper.”

Underscored Carpio, “Whether the arrest was illegal or not, it would not deprive the ICC of jurisdiction to hear and decide on the complaint against the former president.”

To recall, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had said that Philippine law enforcement authorities assisting Interpol in serving an ICC warrant of arrest on Duterte for crimes against humanity in connection with his war on drugs was in compliance with the country’s commitment to Interpol.

Because the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the latter had to go through Interpol which, the President said, “asked us for help and we had to oblige because we have commitments to Interpol that we have to fulfill. If we don’t do that, then they will no longer help us with cases involving Filipino fugitives abroad.”

Duterte’s legal counsel can question the validity of his arrest but it won’t be until the next hearing set by the ICC in September. Meanwhile, Carpio contends that the ICC still has jurisdiction over the former president because it has nothing to do with his arrest by the surrendering state, that is, the Philippines.

The rule in the ICC is clear, explains the former Supreme Court justice. Even if one is “illegally” arrested by the surrendering state, the ICC still has jurisdiction over the one apprehended when he is handed over to the Court because the latter has nothing to do with the “illegal” arrest done by the surrendering state.

For his part, an ICC-accredited lawyer warned supporters of the former president their protests and calls for the Court to grant Duterte an interim release could very well work against them.

Center for International Law head, Atty. Joel Butuyan, said the ICC does allow detainees to apply for interim release pending trial but an extreme and urgent necessity must be demonstrated for the release to be granted.

Most particularly, Butuyan stressed, “You don’t want to show the ICC judges that the Duterte camp’s forces are powerful enough to bully, harass, intimidate, and attempt to manipulate witnesses and even the Court itself.”

ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti expressed the same view, and went further by saying that those responsible for the proliferation of fake news and for the protest rallies attacking “the ICC, the prosecutor and the judges should be careful because their actions could very well add to Duterte’s charges.”

She reminded them that the ICC does prosecute offenses against the administration of justice.

The warning could very well have included those responsible for the proliferation of disinformation, including deep fake images of ICC judges linked with First Lady Liza Marcos on social media, as well as the spate of protest rallies here and overseas, including at The Hague, as well as the massive demonstration in Davao City last Sunday, which was timed with the city’s 88th founding anniversary — all demonstrating the vociferous moves of those in Duterte’s camp who demand that he be returned to the country.

Meanwhile, almost forgotten in the din of protests and the loud cries of anger by allies and kin of Duterte are those who lost thousands of their loved ones in the former president’s bloody war against drugs and who continue to grieve and yearn for justice.

And at The Hague, even as he welcomed Duterte’s arrest, saying it means a lot to the drug war victims’ families and that it proves that “international law is not as weak as some may think,” ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan reminded all and sundry, with absolute clarity: “Despite his arrest, Mr. Duterte is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”