Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte Remains Detained under ICC Custody in The Hague, Netherlands
ICC – The International Criminal Court revealed the charges filed by the prosecution against former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Amid the many corruption issues in the Philippines, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte remains detained under the custody of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands for over six (6) months now. He is faced with an accusation of crimes against humanity before the foreign court over the war on drugs of his administration.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is ‘frustrated’ amid the flood control corruption in the Philippines. The Duterte family previously claimed that they are allegedly barred by the ICC from disclosing information about their visits to the former President inside the detention center.
The confirmation of charges hearing of Duterte is supposedly set today, September 23. However, after his lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, claimed that the former President is allegedly “not fit to stand trial”, the foreign court ruled to postpone the confirmation of charges hearing of the former Philippine President.
According to Kaufman, former Pres. Duterte is allegedly suffering from a ‘cognitive impairment’ and struggles to remember places, events, and even members of his family. The British-Israeli Lawyer also claimed that even with a medical intervention, the cognitive status of the former President will remain either “static” or will deteriorate further.
Despite that the confirmation of charges hearing did not push through today, the ICC bared the cases filed against former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the former Philippine Chief Executive is charged by the prosecution of three (3) counts of murder.
Based on the report, the first count refers to the period when Duterte was still Davao Mayor between 2013 to 2016. The second count refers to the crimes against humanity that he allegedly committed against “high value targets” during his term as president between 2016 and 2017.
The third count refers to Duterte’s alleged commission of “crimes against humanity in barangay clearance operations in locations across the Philippines during the presidential period between 2016 to 2018”. Based on the report, the ICC prosecution cited 49 incidents to supports its charges against the former President with a total of 78 victims.
Currently, the Duterte camp has a pending interim release request before the ICC. Vice Pres. Sara Duterte recently claimed that her contacts abroad helped her for her father’s interim release and a “third country” agreed to host the former President’s interim release.