ICC rejects Duterte bid to limit evidence
Korner said the chamber had not made a definitive decision on the trial schedule but would consider the proposal.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber III on Tuesday rejected former President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to limit the prosecution’s evidence to 10,000 items, declining to cut its proposed 18,000 items by about half.
The development came during the fourth status conference on Duterte’s crimes against humanity case, a little over a month before his trial is scheduled to begin on 30 November.
“I want to make it quite clear that your motion that the evidence should be refiled in the JWP (Judicial Workflow Platform), and the prosecution limited to 10,000 documents is at the moment refused,” Presiding Judge Joana Korner said.
The prosecution, meanwhile, has proposed removing 253 items from its extensive evidence list, which had grown to 62,130 items comprising more than 320,000 pages. In a letter dated 12 October, Acting Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang submitted an updated list organized into seven categories.
The prosecution also proposed that the defense could further reduce nearly 7,000 items if it agreed to a proposed stipulation of facts concerning a redacted collection of evidence.
The submission and its annex remain confidential because they contain sensitive information about prosecution witnesses and sources.
Davao focus
Much of Tuesday’s proceedings focused on the volume of evidence, including records of killings during Duterte’s tenure as Davao City mayor.
Defense lead counsel Peter Haynes said 8,393 items concerned deaths during police operations from July 2016 to November 2017.
Haynes argued that the volume ran counter to the chamber’s earlier suggestion to filter out evidence and witnesses to streamline proceedings, given Duterte’s age.
He also asked the chamber to consider holding the trial in blocks, with breaks between them, so the 81-year-old former president could see his family. Travel between The Hague and Davao takes about 30 hours, he said.
Korner said the chamber had not made a definitive decision on the trial schedule but would consider the proposal.
The initial schedule proposed by Korner runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., starting 30 November, with several short breaks and a one-hour lunch break.
Duterte, who has been in ICC custody in The Hague since his arrest on 11 March, faces three counts of crimes against humanity of murder involving 78 people, including six children, allegedly killed between 2013 and 2018 during his time as Davao mayor and president.