Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte personally authorized murders and selected some of the victims of his anti-drug campaign, the International Criminal Court heard Monday as pre-trial proceedings began.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said the week-long “confirmation of charges” hearings, which will decide whether Duterte faces a full trial, were “a reminder that those in power are not above the law.”

Duterte, 80, did not attend the hearings after judges granted a defense request to waive his right to appear, despite ruling he was fit to participate.

Niang said Duterte played a “pivotal” role in extrajudicial killings of suspected drug users and dealers, first as mayor of Davao City and later as president. “He authorised murders and personally selected some of the victims,” she said.

The former leader denies the charges, his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman told journalists ahead of the hearing. Kaufman is expected to respond later Monday.

Judges have 60 days after the hearings to issue a written decision on whether Duterte should face a full trial.

Outside the court, demonstrators gathered. Patricia Enriquez, a 36-year-old researcher, called it a “historic moment” for victims.

"It is emotional. It is hopeful. It is also very painful," she told AFP.
"I'm hoping that all the Filipinos and everybody in the world will stand with us, stand with truth, stand with justice and stand with accountability."

But 35-year-old chef Aldo Villarta said it was a “slap in the face” for the Philippines that an international court was trying the country’s former leader.

"We've already suffered so long from colonisation," he said, adding that Duterte’s human rights were being infringed by imprisonment.

Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, linked to at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018, though Niang said the charges represent “merely a fraction” of killings during his campaign.

He was arrested in Manila in March last year, transferred to the Netherlands, and held at the ICC detention unit at Scheveningen Prison. He appeared frail and barely spoke by video link at an earlier hearing.

The counts involve 19 murders in Davao City from 2013 to 2016, 14 killings of “High Value Targets” in 2016–2017, and 43 murders of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers from 2016 to 2018.