Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte cried foul after the judges of the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber I unanimously denied the petition of his detained 80-year-old father, ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, for a temporary release from the tribunal’s custody in The Hague.

The lawmaker criticized the ruling, handed down on 26 September but released only on Friday, 10 October, as a “gross and disgraceful miscarriage of justice.”

“It is not law—it is a political theater,” he lamented, warning that the “kidnappers” of his father, including the United States Central Intelligence Agency, which he accused of colluding with the Philippine government in arresting the ex-leader, “will pay for this crime.”

Rep. Duterte asserted that the erstwhile chief executive is not a flight risk, which stood in stark contrast to the position of three chamber judges.

“My father, an 80-year-old man, who is no longer in power, has been in fact a subject of political persecution in his own country since he stepped down…[Y]ou might just have helped in making him a martyr,” he continued. 

In denying the bid, Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Judges María del Socorro Flores Liera and Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou contended that the former president posed a flight risk, likely to obstruct the investigation, and had a “strong incentive to influence the prosecution’s witnesses before the start of any trial.” 

Given such circumstances, the chamber ruled that keeping Duterte in the ICC custody “remains necessary.”

“[T]he continued detention of Mr. Duterte is justified at this stage of the proceedings in order to ensure that the suspect does not obstruct or endanger the investigation or the court’s proceedings,” the 23-page ruling read. 

Rep. Duterte, nonetheless, said the defense would explore all legal avenues so that his father can be temporarily released from ICC custody in The Hague, Netherlands, pending the confirmation of charges hearing. 

Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, sought the former president’s interim release as early as 12 June, citing, among others, his advanced age, claiming that he is “not fit to stand trial as a result of cognitive impairment.”

He also assured the ICC that an unnamed country has already agreed to host Duterte should the ICC rule in their favor.

Both the prosecution and the legal counsel of the drug war victims strongly objected to the petition, leading to its rejection by the chamber.

Duterte is facing three counts of murder for crimes against humanity related to his brutal war on drugs, which saw more than 6,000 deaths based on the government’s data, though rights watchdogs estimate that the death toll exceeded 30,000, most of them from low-income communities.

The confirmation of charges was initially scheduled for 23 September, but this was postponed indefinitely following a petition by the defense.