ICC Prosecutors and Victims' Lawyers Unite: Keep Duterte in Detention — 'He Calls His Arrest a Kidnapping'
Both the ICC prosecutor and the lawyers representing drug war victims are pushing back hard against any possibility of releasing former President Rodrigo Duterte from detention in The Hague. At a hearing on the annual review of Duterte's detention Friday night (Manila time), they argued there are simply no changed circumstances that would justify his release.
Senior trial lawyer Julian Nicholls cited the waiver Duterte signed refusing to attend his confirmation of charges hearing. In that waiver, Duterte declared he doesn't recognize ICC jurisdiction and referred to his arrest as a 'kidnapping.' 'None of which sounds as though those are the words of a person who would return voluntarily to the court,' Nicholls said.
Nicholls also highlighted Duterte's refusal to appear even via video link, saying it proved he would be uncooperative if released. 'If he was granted interim release, it would have been very difficult to make that happen if he simply showed the same disrespect,' the prosecutor argued.
Filipino lawyer Joel Butuyan, one of two common legal representatives of the victims, was even more direct. He pointed to efforts by Duterte's family and supporters to bring him back to the Philippines through Supreme Court petitions. 'If Mr. Duterte cannot even hide his contempt for this court while already under detention, imagine how he will use this contempt if released,' Butuyan said.
Interestingly, defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman did not oppose the continued detention, citing a pending appeal on interim release before the ICC Appeals Chamber. Duterte has been detained for almost a year now, facing charges related to the deadly drug war that killed thousands of Filipinos.
Source: Philstar
