ICC prosecutor: No proof showing 'perceived bias' of judges

For International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, the defense team of former president Rodrigo Duterte failed to demonstrate what they claimed were the "perceived bias" of two of the three pre-trial judges handling the case.

- By JANVIC MATEO

Khan, who objected to the defense suggestion that Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Maria del Socorro Flores Liera excuse themselves from ruling on the jurisdiction issue, maintained ICC judges are "professional and enjoy a presumption of impartiality."

"The Defense fails to demonstrate that perceived bias would arise on the basis of the Judges' prior rulings touching upon jurisdiction in this Situation," read Khan's five-page observation that was reclassified as public on May 6.

"Judges' prior legal determinations on legal issues, made in the course of carrying out their ordinary duties, do not amount to bias, nor should they create the appearance of conflict or impropriety," it added.

The ICC prosecutor was responding to the "invitation" of Duterte's lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman for Alapini-Gansou and Liera to petition their "partial excusal" from exercising their functions in relation to the jurisdiction issue.

In its ruling on May 6, the Pre-Trial Chamber I denied the defense's request, saying "a judge's excusal from the exercise of a function may only be sought by the concerned judge directly before the (ICC) Presidency."