Rodrigo Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing, initially set for September 23, has been postponed by the International Criminal Court (ICC), following a request from the former president’s defense team to adjourn the pre-trial hearing indefinitely due to alleged health concerns. The defense, headed by British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, asserts that Duterte is unfit to stand trial.
Reuters points out in a report that the ICC has never found a suspect unfit for trial. However, the postponement of Duterte’s pre-trial hearing is not without precedent.
In 2012, former Côte d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo’s confirmation of charges hearing was indefinitely postponed due to health concerns. Gbagbo was charged with crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and persecution, in relation to violence that ensued after conflicts in the West African country’s 2010 elections.
The Ivorian leader’s trial started in 2016. In 2019, the ICC acquitted Gbagbo, earning the criticism of political analysts and human rights groups like Amnesty International for alleged failure to deliver justice as a last resort for victims of post-election violence.
Before Duterte’s case, the most recent postponement in the ICC was in the case of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, a Sudanese commander charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan. The ICC ruled to move Abd-Al-Rahman’s confirmation of charges hearing from February 2021 to May 2021 upon the request of the prosecution, which sought more time to disclose evidence ahead of the trial. The trial started in April 2022 and ended in December 2024, but a decision has yet to be announced.
A new date for Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing has not yet been set. He is currently detained in the ICC’s detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, on allegations of crimes against humanity related to the war on drugs under his administration.
ICC Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera has issued a dissenting opinion on the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision, citing its “duty to ensure the expeditiousness of the proceedings.” Liera also argued that “matters of fitness and the assessment of the same are exclusively within the competence of the Trial Chamber,” not the Pre-Trial Chamber.
Commenting on the postponement due to health concerns, drug war victims’ lawyer Attorney Kristina Conti said, “We will not fall for a desperate, time-worn, and calculated ploy to paint himself aggrieved.”
News of the postponement came shortly after retired police officer and drug war whistleblower Royina Garma agreed to testify against Duterte in the trial, following in the footsteps of prosecution witness and former Davao Death Squad hitman Edgar Matobato. On Monday, September 8, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed that Garma was in Malaysia to meet with ICC representatives.
