ICC: Duterte stays in Hague detention
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has allowed former President Rodrigo Duterte to skip “administrative proceedings” of his trial, but maintained that the former leader will have to remain in detention in the Netherlands because of the possibility of him fleeing the court’s jurisdiction.
The ICC’s Trial Chamber (TC) III allowed Duterte to skip the May 27 status conference, the first hearing at the trial stage, where parties and participants to the case will discuss details, including anticipated evidence to be used during the trial proper.
But Judge Joanna Korner, who presides of over TC III, said that the confirmation of Duterte’s three counts of murder charges by the Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC I) on April 23 warranted his continued detention.
Duterte has been detained in the ICC’s detention center center in The Hague’s Scheveningen district since he was arrested on March 11, 2025. The former leader has asked the court to release him because of health concerns, but the court ruled otherwise.
Arguments for detention
“In this regard, the Chamber observes that it is this Court’s consistent and longstanding jurisprudence that the confirmation of charges increases the risk that an accused may abscond and is therefore not a change in circumstances that militates in favor of conditional release, but rather one supporting continued detention,” TC III said in its eight-page decision.
Reviewing an accused’s detention to determine whether there is change in circumstances or risks continuing to exist is done every 120 days under the Rome Statute.
The TC III’s first ruling on the review of Duterte’s detention took off from the PTC I’s earlier findings on the former president’s request for interim release as well as the separate assessment made by the court-appointed independent group of medical experts on Duterte’s health.
The TC III also cited Duterte’s own letter to the PTC I, where he called his being turned over to ICC custody as “kidnapping” in asking that his attendance to the confirmation of charges hearing last February be waived.
No cooperation seen
“Such statement demonstrates at its lowest that the accused will not comply with any orders that might be made in respect of a release from custody,” the chamber stressed.
This, along with Duterte’s access to resources and a strong army of supporters, present a “real and substantial risk” that he could get away.
“Taken together with his access to vast resources and contacts, including his family and supporters in the Philippines who may assist him in evading justice, the chamber finds that, notwithstanding the defence’s submissions regarding the accused’s health condition, there is a real and substantial risk that the Accused could nonetheless abscond or obstruct justice either on his own or through his associates,” it stressed.
Relieved
Gilbert Andres, one of the lawyers of the victims’ families, told the Inquirer on Saturday that the families “felt relieved and assured of their safety” following the TC III’s denial of Duterte’s interim release.
While Duterte was allowed to skip the first status conference on May 27, the chamber also ordered the defense to file by May 25 a waiver written and signed by Duterte and to take note of the requirements provided for in the Rome Statute.
The hearing will be made available for streaming to the public via the ICC website and on Facebook with a 30-minute delay to allow for redactions on confidential information.
The TC III earlier directed the prosecution to disclose materials in its possession, such as protective measures taken for witnesses and their identities, including those kept from the defense; other confidential information; outstanding evidence it had secured during the pretrial stage; and whether investigations related to the case are still ongoing.
