THE International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor has asked the Pre-Trial Chamber 1 to junk the request of detained former President Rodrigo Duterte seeking to delay its ruling on their appeal for his interim release.
Duterte’s lawyers, led by Nicholas Kaufman, said they will try to halt the September 23, 2025 confirmation of charges against him.
In a filing dated July 18 but made public by the ICC only on July 21, Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said the Duterte camp’s reversal of its position on his interim release is baffling, considering that they previously asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to argue that the petition should be resolved urgently.
“The defense submitted that the issue of interim release needed to be resolved urgently, to the extent that it requested that the chamber reduce the Prosecution’s time limit to respond. In a complete reversal, the defense now asks the chamber, again on an urgent basis, not to rule on its request for interim release,” the prosecution’s submission said.
Niang stressed that the defense team prematurely chose when to file its urgent application seeking Duterte’s interim release from detention.
“The Defence team chose when to file its urgent application for interim release, knowing that the submitted (Redacted) was incomplete. The Defense team should not be permitted to suspend issuance of the decision on the basis that it may, at some unknown point in the future, attempt to supplement its submission,” it added.
The prosecution urged the Pre-Trial Chamber not to grant the request of the defense.
“The Defense team should not now be entitled to delay the adjudication of this matter simply so that it can supplement its original submission,” the prosecution added.
Last month, Duterte asked the Pre-Trial Chamber for interim release, saying he is not a flight risk and that a country had accepted in principle to temporarily host him.
Duterte’s camp also cited humanitarian considerations in asking for his interim release, saying he is already 80 years old.
But in a complete turnaround, his lawyers asked the Pre-Trial Chamber to hold off issuing a resolution on the interim release plea, arguing they needed more time to get information and documents to support the application.
CONFIRMATION HEARING
In a related development, Kaufman said it will raise an issue to halt the September 23 confirmation hearing after receiving additional documents concerning his client.
He said the document, whose contents were redacted from public view, would show that the September 23 cannot proceed.
“For the sake of clarity, and in light of the newly received (Redacted) information, the Defence formally notifies the Pre-Trial Chamber that it will raise the issue of (Redacted) as a bar to the holding of a hearing on the confirmation of charges,” Kaufman said in a filing dated July 18 but only made public Tuesday.
He said the status conference that he had requested would facilitate the litigation of this matter.
Duterte’s camp earlier asked the ICC to conduct a status conference on or before July 25 to reassess the schedule of the confirmation hearing.
PROSECUTION EVIDENCE
Meanwhile, the Office of the Prosecutor has submitted an updated list of evidence to the Pre-Trial Chamber 1.
But the prosecution did not detail what kind of additional evidence it had submitted.
“It is filed as confidential because it includes information about the Prosecution’s evidence, including sensitive witness information,” Niang said in a submission dated July 18 but only made public by the ICC yesterday.
The list is filed as confidential because it includes sensitive witness information, according to Niang.
The prosecution earlier submitted more than 2,000 documents and evidence against Duterte as required by the Pre-Trial Chamber 1.
