Possible retaliation by the Duterte family and their supporters is being feared by families of drug war victims should former President Rodrigo Duterte be allowed to return to the country.

This was aired by International Criminal Court (ICC) assistant to counsel Atty. Kristina Conti in a radio interview on Thursday.

Conti said the victims fear the possibility since the Duterte family is not only influential but also has the capacity to retaliate against them.

“That is what they are afraid of, that they might be retaliated against, especially since some of them have already been named as witnesses, and in a way, it is now public knowledge that many have applied as victims in his case,” Conti said.

The issue came after the counsel of Duterte, Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, asked the Marcos administration to allow his return to the country if their request for interim release is granted.

The former president, who is now 80 years old, has been in ICC custody since March to face charges for crimes against humanity over his administration’s war on drugs.

In August, he reiterated his request to the ICC for an interim release to an undisclosed country “subject to any conditions deemed appropriate.”

Conti said they suspect the country to be a “member state of the ICC.”

She added that the Philippines is no longer a member state, and there is not even an agreement, raising the question of what the ICC can hold onto as assurance that the detainee would not escape.

Previously, the ICC announced that the confirmation of charges hearing for Duterte’s crimes against humanity case was postponed after his camp said that he was “not fit to stand trial.”

The confirmation hearing was initially set for September 23, but the ICC has postponed the start of the confirmation of charges hearing against Duterte.

This followed a defense request for an adjournment on the grounds that the 80-year-old former president is not fit to stand trial.

In a decision issued on Monday, Pre-Trial Chamber I, with Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera dissenting, ruled to delay the proceedings to allow time to adjudicate the defense team’s request and other related matters.

Flores Liera issued a dissenting opinion, stating that the defense’s request should have been denied and the confirmation hearing should have proceeded as scheduled.

The confirmation of charges hearing, a key step in ICC proceedings, intends to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds that the accused committed the alleged crimes.

Records show that around 6,200 drug suspects were killed while human rights organizations estimate the number could reach up to 30,000 due to unreported related slays.