Declaring the 80-year-old a flight risk, the International Criminal Court Appeals Chamber on Friday unanimously denied former President Rodrigo Duterte’s petition for an interim release, upholding the previous ruling by the Pre-Trial Chamber I.

Duterte will therefore remain in ICC detention in The Hague, Netherlands, pending the confirmation of his crimes against humanity charges, which is likely to be rescheduled to January.

The Appeals Chamber, presided over by Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, handed down the decision in open court with only Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, present on his behalf.

Duterte waived his right to personally appear before the court without explanation, as indicated in a notification dated 27 November.

The proceedings were streamed live on the ICC’s official website and social media pages, giving the public direct access to it.

The five judges of the Appeals Chamber concurred with the Pre-Trial Chamber I ruling that the three grounds under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute, which outline the need for the continued detention of an accused, were sufficiently met.

The decision affirmed the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision in October that declared Duterte’s detention “continues to remain necessary” to ensure that he will appear at the trial and will not obstruct or endanger the ongoing investigation into the drug war during his term.

Duterte’s surrender

Duterte was surrendered to the ICC in compliance with the Philippines’ commitment to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Interpol Manila received an official copy of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against Duterte that paved the way for the government to surrender him.

An ICC detainee may apply for an interim release subject to the conditions set forth by the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty.

This includes the assurance that the accused will appear at trial, will not obstruct or endanger the investigation, and will not re-offend against the alleged crimes he is facing before the court.

Kaufman had petitioned the ICC to grant Duterte temporary release as early as June, citing, among other things, his advanced age and debilitating health condition.

The British-Israeli lawyer assured the court that an unnamed country had agreed to host Duterte and will comply with any conditions the ICC may set to allow his immediate release.

In September, however, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected the defense’s bid, maintaining that Duterte remained a flight risk and posed a threat to potential witnesses in his case.

Another factor contributing to this was the Duterte camp’s continued non-recognition of the ICC’s jurisdiction and the scathing remarks made by his children, including Vice President Sara Duterte, that the court had kidnapped him.

Children’s influence

The Pre-Trial Chamber I also considered the influence and power that Duterte’s children hold in the Philippine government, which could enable the former president to elude detention and prosecution.

The Pre-Trial Chamber also rejected the defense’s argument that Duterte should be released for humanitarian reasons.

Duterte has been detained at Scheveningen Prison since his arrest on 11 March 2025 in Manila. He is facing three counts of murder for crimes against humanity over the alleged extrajudicial killings committed during his brutal campaign against illegal drugs, spanning his time as Davao City mayor and as president, where thousands were killed, mostly from poor communities.

The defense argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber I erred in finding Duterte a flight risk, prompting an appeal to the Appeals Chamber.

However, the Appeals Chamber ruled that the defense “failed to identify errors in the Pre-Trial Chamber’s reasoning or to demonstrate that the Pre-Trial Chamber’s conclusions were unreasonable.”

“The Appeals Chamber thus unanimously confirmed the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision of 26 September 2025,” the statement read.

Likewise, the Appeals Chamber also ruled that the defense fell short in substantiating the need for Duterte’s release and that the findings of the Pre-Trial Chamber to declare Duterte a flight risk were sufficiently established.

‘Purely political’

For former Palace spokesperson Harry Roque, the ICC decision was “purely political.”

He said that during an assembly of member states of the Rome Statute, the ambassador of Japan, the ICC’s biggest donor, allegedly expressed disappointment in the court’s recent decisions that ended in acquittals.

“If that’s what the biggest donor of the ICC said, what can we expect? So I’m really sad that they rejected this motion for temporary freedom, but I can’t say that it wasn’t expected because politics is what exists in this court,” Roque said.

He said he hoped the international tribunal could still deliver justice, even amid “political pressures” by deciding that the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Philippines no longer had an effect after the country left the Rome Statute.

“I still want to believe that justice can still be delivered in the ICC, so let’s wait for the decision on the jurisdiction issue before we conclude that justice is truly elusive in this court,” he added.

Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) acting chairman Alfonso Cusi said the ICC decision was expected.

Confirmation of charges next

The ICC prosecutors welcomed the decision, saying they will “continue to prepare for Mr. Duterte’s hearing on the confirmation of charges, once scheduled.”

Duterte was supposed to face the judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber I on 23 September for the confirmation of his murder charges, but this was postponed indefinitely following a petition by the defense to declare the former leader “unfit to stand trial.”

A ruling in October rejected claims by his defense that the ICC was not competent to judge Duterte on three charges of crimes against humanity.

One charge concerns 19 murders committed between 2013 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City. A second relates to 14 killings of alleged drug bosses in 2016 and 2017, when he was president. The third covers 43 killings of suspected low-level drug users or dealers.