ICC Appeals Chamber urged to dismiss Rodrigo Duterte's appeal for interim release

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had called on the Appeals Chamber to deny the appeal of the camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte for his interim release.

The Prosecution said that the Defense failed to "establish any legal or factual error" in the decision for his continued detention.

"The Decision is reasonable and correct. Mr Duterte’s three grounds of appeal (the 'Appeal') fail to establish any legal or factual error. Rather, the Defence repeatedly expresses its mere disagreement with the Decision, mischaracterises and ignores the Chamber’s reasoning, and misstates and misunderstands the applicable law. The Appeal should therefore be dismissed," the Prosecution said in its public redacted version of its response to the Defence's appeal on interim release, dated October 21 but uploaded Oct. 31 on the ICC website. 

To recall, the Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected Duterte’s request for an interim release under Article 60(2) of the Rome Statute and ordered his continued detention (the “Decision”) last September 26.

The Chamber found that three reasonable grounds for his detention were met, namely:

• to ensure his appearance at trial;
• to ensure that he does not obstruct or endanger the investigation or court proceedings; and
• to ensure that he does not continue with the commission of crimes.

"For the foregoing reasons, the Prosecution respectfully requests that the Appeals Chamber dismiss the Appeal and affirm the Decision," the Office of the Prosecutor said.

Duterte, 80, is detained at the Hague Penitentiary Institution or the Scheveningen Prison and faces charges of crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings of purported drug dealers and users during his administration's war on drugs. —KG, GMA Integrated News