Rodrigo Duterte is anticipated to make his first look on the worldwide prison court docket (ICC) on Friday, as the previous Philippines president faces crimes in opposition to humanity expenses over his lethal “warfare on medication”.
The court docket mentioned in a press release late on Thursday that it “considers it acceptable” for Duterte to seem Friday at 2pm native time (1pm GMT).
On the listening to, the 79-year-old will likely be knowledgeable of the crimes he’s alleged to have dedicated, in addition to his rights as a defendant.
Duterte stands accused of the crime in opposition to humanity of homicide over his years-long marketing campaign in opposition to drug customers and sellers that rights teams mentioned killed tens of hundreds of individuals.
As he landed in The Hague, the previous chief was calm when he appeared to simply accept duty for his actions, saying in a Fb video: “I’ve been telling the police, the army, that it was my job and I’m accountable.”
It stood in sharp distinction to particulars that emerged of a chaotic 12-hour standoff round his arrest on Tuesday in Manila. Duterte threatened a police common with lawsuits, refused to be fingerprinted and advised legislation enforcers “you need to kill me to convey me to The Hague,” in line with police Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre.
The standoff occurred at a Philippine airbase earlier than he and different cops managed to convey the previous chief on to a government-chartered jet that took him to the Netherlands.
Torre described the confrontation as “very tense” and mentioned Duterte refused to be fingerprinted.
Duterte’s authorized staff challenges his arrest and mentioned that Philippine authorities didn’t present any copy of the ICC warrant and violated his constitutional rights.
The arrest additionally got here amid a breakdown in relations between his household and the Marcos household, who had beforehand joined forces to run the Philippines.
Present president Ferdinand Marcos and vice-president Sara Duterte – Rodrigo’s daughter – are at loggerheads, with the latter going through an impeachment trial over expenses together with an alleged assassination plot in opposition to Marcos.
Sara Duterte is within the Netherlands to assist her father, after labelling his arrest “oppression and persecution”, with the Duterte household having sought an emergency injunction from the supreme court docket to cease his switch.
However victims of the “warfare on medication” hope that Duterte will lastly face justice for his alleged crimes.
The high-profile Duterte case comes at a important second for the ICC, because it faces unprecedented stress from all sides, together with US sanctions.
In February, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the court docket over what he mentioned have been “illegitimate and baseless actions concentrating on America and our shut ally Israel.”
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity throughout the Gaza warfare.
Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan hailed Duterte’s arrest as a key second for victims and worldwide justice as a complete.
“Many say that worldwide legislation isn’t as robust as we would like, and I agree with that. However as I additionally repeatedly emphasise, worldwide legislation isn’t as weak as some might imagine,” Khan mentioned in a press release following Duterte’s arrival in ICC custody.
“After we come collectively … once we construct partnerships, the rule of legislation can prevail. Warrants could be executed,” he mentioned.
On the preliminary listening to, a suspect can request interim launch pending a trial, in line with ICC guidelines. Following that first listening to, the following section is a session to verify the costs, at which level a suspect can problem the prosecutor’s proof.
Solely after that listening to will the court docket determine whether or not to press forward with a trial, a course of that would take a number of months and even years.
“It’s necessary to underline, as we now begin a brand new stage of proceedings, that Mr Duterte is presumed harmless,” mentioned Khan.
With Related Press and Agence France-Presse
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