ICC rejects Duterte appeal for interim release, orders continued detention ~ HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Friday, November 28, 2025

ICC rejects Duterte appeal for interim release, orders continued detention

Friday, November 28, 2025 Herbert Curia - Promoter No comments

From the Website of INQUIRER
links https://globalnation.inquirer.net/300410/icc-rejects-duterte-appeal-for-interim-release-orders-continued-detention-2

ICC rejects Duterte appeal for interim release, orders continued detention

MANILA, Philippines — No interim release for former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber on Friday rejected Duterte’s appeal for interim release, ordering that he remain in detention while proceedings on his crimes against humanity case continue.

In its ruling, the Appeals Chamber upheld the earlier decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber I, which found that Duterte’s release would pose risks to witnesses, evidence, and the integrity of the investigation.

The Pre-Trial Chamber I previously found that Duterte’s detention remained necessary, and that the conditions for release proposed were not sufficient to mitigate the risks it found in relation to Duterte’s interim release.

The Pre-Trial Chamber I also rejected the defense’s argument that Duterte should be released for humanitarian reasons.

These were countered by the Duterte camp, which, in return, raised three grounds of appeal.

First, Duterte’s defense team argued that the Pre-Trial Chamber erroneously found that the former president poses a risk.

Second was that the Pre-Trial Chamber erred in its rejection of the guarantees proposed by the State willing to receive him.

Third, Duterter’s team claimed that the Pre-Trial Chamber I wrongly ruled by failing to take into account humanitarian considerations in assessing the right to interim release.

However, these three grounds were rejected by the Appeals Chamber composed of Presiding Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Judge Tomoko Akane, Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, Judge Gocha Lordkipanidze, and Judge Erdenebalsuren Damdin.

he Appeals Chamber noted that the Pre-Trial Chamber reached its conclusions “in relation to the risks enumerated in article 58(1)(b) of the Statute on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the information before it.”

In a separate statement issued shortly after the ruling was publicized, the ICC said after examining the arguments raised in the appeal brief, the Appeals Chamber found that the defense failed to identify errors in the Pre-Trial Chamber’s reasoning or to demonstrate that the Pre-Trial Chamber’s conclusions were unreasonable.

With this, the Appeals Chamber unanimously confirmed the Pre-Trial Chamber’s I rejection of Duterte’s appeal for interim release.

To recall, the prosecution and victims’ representatives strongly opposed the former president’s interim release, arguing that Duterte retained significant influence that could be used to obstruct justice.

Duterte, who earlier waived his right to be present for the reading of the judgment, will remain in ICC custody as pre-trial proceedings move forward.

Duterte is facing three counts of murder over 49 killings, and is currently detained at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague, though his camp has argued that he was unfit to stand for trial.

The ICC currently has custody of Duterte after he was arrested and sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity, which he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody war against drugs.

The anti-drug campaign dubbed Oplan Tokhang left at least 6,000 people dead, but human rights groups have reported at least 20,000 killed. /cb