ICC prosecutor urges appeals Chamber to junk Duterte plea for release
According to the document, the Chamber found three reasonable grounds for his detention, namely: To ensure his appearance on trial; ensure that he does not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings; and to ensure that he does not continue with the commission of crimes.
Former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC)
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked the Appeals Chamber to deny the appeal of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s camp seeking his interim release.
In a public redacted version of its response dated 21 October but published on 31 October, the ICC Prosecution said the defense failed to prove any legal or factual error in the earlier ruling that ordered Duterte’s continued detention.
“The Decision is reasonable and correct. Mr. Duterte’s three grounds of appeal fail to establish any legal or factual error,” the document stated. “Rather, the Defence repeatedly expresses its mere disagreement with the Decision, mischaracterises and ignores the Chamber’s reasoning, and misstates and misunderstands the applicable law. The Appeal should therefore be dismissed.”
The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber on 26 September rejected Duterte’s request for interim release under Article 60(2) of the Rome Statute and ordered his detention to continue.
According to the Prosecution, the Chamber found three reasonable grounds for Duterte’s detention:
To ensure his appearance at trial;
To prevent obstruction or endangerment of the investigation or court proceedings; and
To ensure that he does not continue committing crimes.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Prosecution respectfully requests that the Appeals Chamber dismiss the Appeal and affirm the Decision,” the document said.
The ICC Prosecutor also rejected the defense’s claim that the Pre-Trial Chamber had made a “predetermined decision” to detain Duterte, who faces charges of crimes against humanity over alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects during his administration.
“The Prosecution takes this opportunity to reject, in the strongest terms, the Defence’s baseless and offensive statement that the Pre-Trial Chamber had made a predetermined decision to detain Mr. Duterte,” the document noted.
It also described as “especially troubling” the remarks reportedly made by Duterte’s legal counsel suggesting that his detention was due to the Chamber’s limited case docket, though the specific reasons were redacted in the published document.