Duterte confirmation of charges hearing will continue even if appealed —Conti

Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing in February will continue even if his camp appeals the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that found him fit for trial, ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti said Tuesday.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Conti said that the Pre-Trial Chamber 1 will move forward with the hearing while the appeal is pending with the ICC Appeals Chamber.

“Kumbaga, parang tren, ‘yung driver ay ‘yung Pre-Trial Chamber. Sa punto de vista niya, wala nang balakid pa. Nakapagpasya na siya sa jurisdiction, nakapagpasya na siya sa fitness to stand trial,” she said.

(Like a train, the driver is the Pre-Trial Chamber. From its point of view, there are no more obstacles. It has already decided on jurisdiction, it has already decided on fitness to stand trial.)

“Ang mangyayari lang, inakyat sa Appeals Chamber. Hindi hihintayin ng Pre-Trial Chamber ang sasabihin ng Appeals Chamber… kapag pinatigil siya, edi kung saan man abutin ‘yung pagda-drive ng train ay doon titigil,” she added.

(The only thing that will happen is it will be elevated to the Appeals Chamber. The Pre-Trial Chamber will not wait for what the Appeals Chamber will say… if it is ordered to stop, then wherever the driving of the train has reached, that is where it will stop.)

On Monday, the chamber set Duterte’s confirmation of charges on February 23 as it denied his request for indefinite adjournment.

It said Duterte was fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings in his crimes against humanity charges over the deaths blamed on his war on drugs when he was Philippine President.

Duterte’s legal counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, said they will seek to appeal the decision.

Two months

Meanwhile, Conti said that the hearings on the charges may take up to four days and the Pre-Trial Chamber has up to two months to rule on Duterte’s charges.

According to the lawyer, the ICC Prosecutor will read the proposed charges against Duterte during the hearing, but the former president’s team may oppose this.

“Sa hearing na ‘yan arguments so pagalingan ng salita. Hindi pa natin maririnig ang desisyon ng huwes sa dulo niyan… Will they confirm the charges, will they reject the charges? Or may option din sila to refer the matter back to the prosecutor for additional investigation, additional evidence,” Conti said.

(At that hearing, it’s all arguments, a battle of words. We still won’t hear the judge’s decision at the end of that… will they confirm the charges, will they reject the charges, or they also have the option to refer the matter back to the prosecutor for additional investigation and additional evidence.)

“They have up to months to decide on that. February, March, April pa masasabi kung tuloy na tuloy ‘yung trial,” she added. 

(They have up to months to decide on that. It will still be February, March, or April before we can say if the trial will really push through.)

Conti also said the families of drug war victims welcomed the decision, adding that they were initially celebrating the development but later realized that it would still take some time.

“Palakpakan. Makikita mo sa chat, palakpak palapak. Syempre, para sa kanila, ay ito na. Pero mahihismasan kasi malayo pa,” she said.

(They were celebrating. You can see it in the chat, they were clapping. Of course, for them, this is it. But they will wake up because it’s still far off.) —Joahna Lei Casilao/ VAL, GMA Integrated News