VP Sara Duterte visits father Rodrigo after ICC rejection of interim release plea

Vice President Sara Duterte visited her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague for the first time since the appeal for interim release was denied by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) last Friday.

Saleema Refran reported on "Saksi" that the Vice President said they did not discuss the rejection of the appeal for interim release and instead talked mostly about the family, politics and current events.

"Hindi na niya nabanggit actually kanina. Hindi ko na tinake-up kasi ayokong ako yung mag-ano," she said.

"Maganda yung usapan namin sa politika. May konting usapan about sa pamilya pero karamihan sa politics at kung ano yung nangyayari," she added.

The ICC Appeals Chamber rejected the three arguments or grounds presented by the Duterte camp.

The defense team said, it is not certain that the former President will be a threat to the witnesses. The judges, they added, did not take into consideration the capacity of the proposed host country to neutralize the said threat if Duterte were to be released, as well as the humanitarian conditions, such as Duterte's medical condition.

"We have an 80-year-old man suffering from cognitive impairment. How can a man like that flee?" said legal counsel Nicholas Kaufman, addint that "the risk of intimidation, the risk of threats to witnesses and the like and once again, somebody who's suffering from cognitive impairment, sometimes he forgets information five minutes after you give it to him."

"We work with the former president on a daily basis. We know about his situation. The court doesn't," said Kaufman.

Kaufman added that the former President was dismayed but not surprised with the decision.

"He's disappointed, but he's hardly surprised. In fact, we told him that never in the history of the International Criminal Court has a suspect been released when charged with crimes against humanity. If we'd have succeeded, it would have been miraculous," Kaufman said.

Meanwhile, Duterte's legal team is expecting the report of a panel of medical experts who examined the 80-year-old Duterte’s fitness to stand trial before the ICC to be released later this week.

Kaufman said the report of the ICC-accredited expert panel on Duterte’s condition may be released on December 5. — BAP, GMA Integrated News