'Old, Tired, and Frail': Duterte Begs ICC to Let Him Skip His Own Crimes Against Humanity Hearing
Former President Rodrigo Duterte has made a dramatic, last-minute plea to the International Criminal Court, asking to be excused from his own confirmation of charges hearing set to begin on Monday, February 23. In a letter dictated to his legal team and submitted on February 18, the 80-year-old ex-strongman said he is too old and cognitively impaired to sit through the proceedings.
"I do not wish to attend legal proceedings that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me," Duterte said in the waiver. His lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, explained that the former president could not personally write the document due to his condition, so the legal team typed his verbal dictation.
ICC Pre-Trial Chamber judges now have until Friday to decide whether to push through with the hearings without Duterte, or compel him to appear. Under ICC rules, proceedings can continue in absentia if the chamber finds sufficient basis. Duterte also refused the option of following via videolink from his cell.
The former president faces three counts of murder constituting crimes against humanity, covering 49 specific incidents from the Davao Death Squad era through the bloody war on drugs, resulting in 78 documented deaths. An independent medical panel previously found Duterte fit for pre-trial, despite his defense team's insistence on cognitive impairment.
"I have accepted the fact that I could die in prison. But those that desire this fate for me should know that my heart and soul will always remain in the Philippines," Duterte added. Drug war victims and their lawyers are already en route to The Hague for what promises to be a landmark week in international justice.
Source: Rappler
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