The camp of drug war victims on Saturday insisted that former president Rodrigo Duterte must be kept in detention, contending that the defense’s attempt to release him from the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) custody temporarily is only meant to delay the already-stalled trial further.

Lawyer Kristina Conti, an ICC assistant to counsel, asserted that keeping Duterte in the tribunal’s custody in The Hague, Netherlands, is necessary to ensure that the hearing of his crimes against humanity case proceeds without further delays.

“[He should] stay in court, he should stay in the ICC’s custody. In other words, detained. Because that will assure us that the hearing will proceed without any problems,” Conti said in Filipino in an interview.

“Because if he leaves, it will take much longer... Whereas, if he stays inside [...] the trial can start much sooner,” she added, noting that it would be a significant development long-awaited by the families of the alleged extrajudicial killings for nearly a decade.

Furthermore, Conti said releasing Duterte from detention is a “huge risk” to the ICC, which doesn’t have its own police force to directly enforce its orders if the pre-trial accused fails to appear in court.

Ruling set on DU30 motion

Conti’s statement followed ICC’s announcement that it will hand down the decision on Duterte’s petition for an interim release on Friday, 28 November at 10:30 a.m. (Central European time), in an open court.

The proceedings will also be livestreamed on the ICC’s official website.

Recall that Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, has repeatedly petitioned the court to temporarily release the former leader pending confirmation of his murder charges, as early as 12 June. He assured the court that an unnamed country has already agreed to host Duterte and will comply with any conditions the tribunal may set to allow his immediate release.

At present, there are 125 state parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. Nineteen are from Asia-Pacific, including Japan, Korea, Cambodia and Timor-Leste.

The African States account for the largest bloc, with 33 countries, followed by Latin America and Caribbean States with 28. Western European and other countries comprised the 25, while Eastern Europe comprised the 20.

Only Argentina and Belgium have signed cooperation agreements on interim release with the ICC.