Du30 camp asks ICC to exclude 2 witnesses

ICC PHOTO

The defense has asked the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trial Chamber (TC) III to direct its prosecution team to remove two persons from its list of witnesses to be presented in the crimes against humanity trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte set to start on Nov. 30 at The Hague, the Netherlands.

In a six-page document released by the TC III dated Nov. 9, the defense, through lead counsel Peter Haynes, sought to reject the inclusion of testimonies from witnesses P-1334 and P-1348.

“The interviews bear this out: the accounts they provided are substantially based on rumour, hearsay, and information obtained through the media,” it said.

“Prosecution is seeking to introduce prior recorded testimonies of marginal value, concerning matters said to support the contextual elements, but resting on a fragmented and increasingly attenuated chain of hearsay from unidentified individuals, ‘stories,’ press articles and, more seriously, speculation,” it added.

The defense cited P-1334’s confirmation “that she has no personal knowledge of how instructions were conveyed by Mr. Duterte, through [then Philippine National Police chief Ronald] Bato dela Rosa” adding that she “never saw Dela Rosa do anything of the sort, and recognized that her account is based on stories she had heard.”

As for witness P-1348, the defense said she is unable “to offer any direct information on matters of significance to the case,” adding that she “cannot speak from personal experience on the alleged quotas to kill criminals.”