Sara arranging Hague trips for kin as pa unlikely to be home for Christmas
With the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) 1 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejecting former President Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal for his interim release, his family is resigned to the fact that he will not be home for Christmas.
“Yes, we already expect that,” Vice President Sara Duterte told reporters in a chance interview in Zamboanga City on Wednesday.
Although she has yet to talk to him about the matter, Duterte said her father talks to his lawyer every day “so I know he already has information that something like that is going to happen.”
Grounds for detention
She added that for now, she was preparing the schedule for the visits of family members to the ICC detention center.
In a 23-page ruling issued on Oct. 10, the PTC 1 said it found that the older Duterte’s detention “remains necessary based on three grounds under the Rome Statute: (1) to ensure his appearance at trial; (2) to prevent him from obstructing the investigation or the proceedings, and (3) to stop potential commission of further crimes.”
The Vice President was also asked about unconfirmed reports that ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan had been disqualified from her father’s case due to a possible conflict of interest.
“It doesn’t matter who the prosecutor is because their task will be the same, in terms or investigation and case building. What’s important is the preparation of the defense team for the prosecution’s possible witnesses and evidence against former President Rodrigo Duterte,” she said.
For human rights lawyer and ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti, she is not convinced there is a basis for Khan’s disqualification.
“As disclosed, he had assisted a group of victims in sending a communication to the Office of the Prosecutor prior to his appointment. We see no significant or fundamental conflict of interest between the victims and the Office of the Prosecutor,” Conti said in a text message to the Inquirer on Wednesday.
The former president has been in the custody of the ICC since March 11. He is facing three counts of murder and attempted murder as crimes against humanity over the thousands of killings that happened during his crackdown on drugs as Davao City mayor and as President.
The campaign against illegal drugs, dubbed as “Oplan Tokhang,” left at least 6,000 people dead based on government records, although human rights groups have placed the death toll at around 30,000. —WITH A REPORT FROM CHARIE ABARCA
