Australia turns down hosting Duterte if ICC grants interim release

The Australian government has declined to host former President Rodrigo Duterte should the International Criminal Court (ICC) grant his request for interim release.

While it is aware that Duterte applied for interim release to a third unnamed country, Australia is not considering to grant such a request as the matter is best left in the hands of the ICC, GMA News Online learned Friday.

In applying for interim release, Duterte’s camp previously told the chamber that an undisclosed country has agreed to take in the former president, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity over his administration’s war on drugs.

Trip to Australia

Earlier this week, Vice President Sara Duterte said her father, the former president, was looking at Australia as one of the countries for his possible interim release.

Australia is a party to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court. Duterte is currently under ICC custody in The Hague, Netherlands.

"Australia is in the list of countries that are considered by the lawyers, but I am not here for the interim release. Not for this visit," the Vice President had said. 

Sara Duterte added that she went to Australia because she wanted to bring to the international community and talk to the Filipino community there the issue "about the International Criminal Court and the case of former President Duterte [and discuss] what is happening in our country right now in terms of the performance of the administration of President Marcos."

She said that she tried to reach out to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, but the latter was unavailable to meet her. "So, I will not be visiting Australian government officials for this visit. But I do hope that I can meet them in my next visit in the future," the Vice President had said.

Defense team

Interviewed in Davao City on Friday, however, the Vice President said her father's lawyers neither discussed nor submitted an application for interim release with Australia.

"I'd like to clarify that the defense team of President Duterte never reached out to the Australian government to discuss about this interim release. There is no application of former President Duterte for interim release in Australia, and the submission of the lawyers of President Duterte wherein there were two countries indicated in the document, albeit redacted, I have to confirm that [there were] two countries, none of which is Australia," she said.

"This has never been discussed with the Australian government. There was never an application with the Australian government. And there is no intent as well to apply for interim release with the Australian government," she added.

The Vice President said the team has only been considering the countries where interim release may be possible, but no applications have been made.

The elder Duterte is facing a crimes against humanity case before the ICC over his administration’s drug war. Though he is currently under ICC custody, his camp has sought his release to an undisclosed country.

The Office of the Prosecutor has asked the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber to deny Duterte's interim release request.

The prosecution also denied that any agreement was reached with the defense regarding Duterte's release to the country proposed by the Duterte camp. Further, the prosecution said it agreed under the condition that Duterte would be released to another country. — with a report from Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/ VDV, GMA Integrated News