Du30 to skip key ICC ruling on jurisdiction
Former President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow him to skip the judgment in open court of his appeal challenging the court’s jurisdiction over his crimes against humanity case.
Without citing any reasons, Duterte told the chamber that he was waiving his right to appear in person before the court on April 22, when it delivers its decision on his appeal on the ICC’s jurisdiction.
“I hereby instruct my lawyers to hear the aforementioned judgment in my place,” the detained former leader said in a signed letter dated April 10. The typewritten letter was annexed to the defense’s’ “request to waive appearance” filed by Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman.
The court released the document to the public on Monday. Jurisdiction is one of the issues that Duterte’s lawyers have been challenging, along with earlier rulings on interim release and results of his health status.
The appeal on jurisdiction seeks the reversal of the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) I in October last year.
‘Instructive’
According to ICC-accredited lawyer Kristina Conti, if the Appeals Chamber rules in favor of the defense, the charges of three counts of murder against Duterte and the continuing investigation into the “common plan” under the drug war would be junked.
“The decision on the appeal will be instructive. If we lose it, there should be a mention that any case or investigation by the ICC into the Philippines must cease. Then we don’t have to wait for the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision,” Conti told the Inquirer. “If there is no such order, the PTC will probably issue a decision later, ordering the case be terminated and Duterte [be released].”
This also means that the PTC I would not likely have to issue anymore its decision on the confirmation of charges hearing, which is expected by May, she noted.
‘Old, tired and frail’
As in the last hearings in the ICC during the confirmation of charges in February, Duterte had waived his right to appear physically or virtually in court, saying he does not recognize the international tribunal’s jurisdiction.
He told the PTC I in a letter that he was “old, tired and frail” and that he was accepting the likelihood of him dying while in detention at the Scheveningen prison complex in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Duterte appeared for the first time, only by videoconference, during the initial hearing days on March 14 last year, shortly after his arrest and turnover to the ICC. He is facing three counts of murder as a crime against humanity as an “indirect co-perpetrator” of the brutal killings in his so-called war on drugs.
