THE camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte has committed to the International Criminal Court (ICC) they will “not reinvent the wheel” to delay the confirmation of charges hearing on the crimes against humanity case filed by victims of alleged extrajudicial killings under his administration’s brutal crackdown against illegal drugs.
The commitment was made by Duterte’s lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman in a document submitted to the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 on April 8 in response to the latter’s directive for the defense team to file their observation on issues related to the confirmation proceedings, including information submitted by the prosecution.
Among these issues that the chamber has asked Duterte’s camp for comment are whether the former president will raise the existence of alibi or invoke grounds to exclude criminal responsibility, whether Duterte anticipates the presentation of evidence during the confirmation proceedings, and if he sees the need to conduct investigations before the confirmation hearing set on September 23 this year.
The Duterte camp has also been asked what type of evidence they will present during the confirmation hearing, and if the former president intends to rely on written testimonial evidence in the said hearing.
Kaufman said they could not yet provide responses to all the issues raised by the chamber, but added they “will not reinvent the wheel” or delay the proceedings.
But Kaufman noted that the prosecution has yet to reveal crucial evidence it would use during the confirmation of hearing.
“Only when the defense receives a clearer and more granular picture of the evidence on which the prosecution will rely at confirmation will it be in a position to address (all of) these issues,” he said.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor has sent 181 pieces of evidence against Duterte to his defense team last March 21.
The pre-trial chamber has ordered the prosecution and defense teams to disclose their evidence in the confirmation hearing by April.
Aside from the written pieces of evidence, the prosecution is also directed to submit the number of written evidence it intends to present, and the original language of the evidence, as well as the language in which it will be made available.
The prosecution has also been directed to submit the duration and original languages of its evidence and transcripts, as well as their translations if they involve non-written pieces of evidence.
The prosecution must also submit how many persons, if any, it intends to present as witnesses to testify viva voce (oral rather than written testimonies).
Duterte’s defense team has until April 11 to submit its observations on the evidence and other submissions of the prosecution.
