Judges Reine Alapini-Gansou, Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Socorro Flores Liera of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 —PHOTOS BY MARIANNE BERMUDEZ, ICC SCREEN GRAB
MANILA, Philippines — The Worldwide Felony Court docket (ICC) has junked former President Rodrigo Duterte’s plea to reschedule his first court docket look.
Duterte’s authorized counsel and former Government Secretary Salvador Medialdea made this identified in his manifestation through the pretrial on Friday night time (Philippine time).
“I repeat my respectful request, which was rejected this morning to postpone the substantive side of this listening to to the following week when I’ll have the chance to sit down with my consumer and to clarify to him what the affirmation listening to is and what disclosure is and the way the prosecution alleges that he dedicated crimes. I thank the court docket for its consideration and remorse to say that I should not have directions to proceed my submission any additional at the moment,” Medialdea stated.
Nonetheless, Iulia Antoanella Motoc, presiding decide of The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, stated there isn’t a have to postpone the preliminary look because it doesn’t want “a lot preparation.”
“Now, counsel, with regard to your request for one more listening to to be held subsequent week, properly, your preliminary request that was, this was not accepted by the court docket. Now, you might have seen the 2 selections of the court docket which have been disclosed to you, and you’re conscious of the truth that these two selections have been refused. And that is tied into the truth that this primary preliminary look listening to doesn’t want a lot preparation, as I’ve stated to you on quite a lot of events,” Motoc instructed Medialdea.
Motoc defined it is because Friday’s “listening to is neither the beginning of the trial neither is it a affirmation of costs listening to. Throughout at the moment’s listening to, no proof shall be collected or offered, and the problems of Mr. Duterte’s guilt or innocence will subsequently not be addressed.”
Motoc additionally stated Article 61 of the Rome Statute — the ICC’s founding treaty — and Rule 1211 of the Guidelines of Process and Proof state that the primary goal of the preliminary look is to reply three questions.
“Firstly, the Chamber should be sure that the one who was the topic of the arrest warrant has been knowledgeable of the crimes of which he’s accused. Second, the Chamber should be sure that this particular person has been knowledgeable of his rights as acknowledged by the Rome Statute,” she defined.
“Third, the Chamber should set a date on which it intends to carry a affirmation of costs listening to. The Chamber notes that your counsel, Mr. Duterte, filed two motions, one in relation with at the moment’s listening to, and it’s possible you’ll remember that these two motions haven’t been accepted by the Chamber due to the character of at the moment’s listening to. No additional dialogue on the matter is critical throughout this listening to, as a result of, as I stated at an earlier stage, the purpose of this listening to at the moment is to introduce the events and to establish the fees and to set a date for the affirmation of costs listening to at a later stage,” she added.
The ICC set Duterte’s affirmation of costs on September 23, 2025.
Motoc stated there could be no trial if the fees in opposition to Duterte weren’t confirmed, and earlier than the trial Duterte can file a petition for interim launch.
Duterte attended the pretrial through video hyperlink.
The 79-year-old Duterte, clad in a blue go well with and tie, sounded frail when he spoke briefly to verify his title and date of delivery.
READ: ICC units Duterte affirmation of costs listening to Sept. 23
He was the topic of an arrest warrant from the ICC over crimes in opposition to humanity allegedly dedicated within the Philippines between November 1, 2011 and March 16 2019. The Philippines was nonetheless a celebration to the Rome Statute throughout this era.
In March 2018, Duterte declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute, however the withdrawal took impact a yr after or in March 2019, so the ICC retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes within the Philippines based mostly on the time when the nation was nonetheless a member.
The conflict in opposition to unlawful medicine that occurred through the Duterte administration claimed at the very least 6,000 lives, based on official authorities knowledge.
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Nonetheless, human rights watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the dying toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019. They stated a number of of those circumstances have been extrajudicial killings.
