Defer ruling on Rody release plea, ICC judges urged

After initially highlighting the urgency of their request for interim release of former president Rodrigo Duterte from detention in The Hague, his lawyers now want pre-trial chamber judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold off making a decision on their plea.

- By JANVIC MATEO

In a six-page filing dated July 18, defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman asked the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I to suspend action on the request, so as to allow the defense "to assemble all necessary information." Kaufman leads Duterte's legal defense team.

The request was heavily redacted, but like in his recent filings, Kaufman indicated supposed delays in receiving some information from the prosecution.

In response, ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang asked the judges to reject the request, saying the failure of the defense to substantiate its assertions was mainly due to its premature filing of the request.

"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," read Niang's five-page filing.

"In a complete reversal, the Defense now asks the Chamber, again on an urgent basis, not to rule on its Request for Interim Release," he added.

Niang said Duterte's camp should not be "entitled to delay the adjudication of this matter simply so that it can supplement its original submission."

Even if the chamber denies the request for interim release, the prosecutor noted that the defense can still renew its application in the future "should it have good cause."