Duterte camp appeals denial of release plea

As expected, the defense team of detained former president Rodrigo Duterte has filed an appeal for interim release after the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected their earlier request.

- By JANVIC MATEO

Duterte's lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman confirmed that an appeal was filed "a week ago."

The ICC on Friday released the public redacted version of the Sept. 26 decision denying the interim release request.

A copy of the defense appeal has yet to be released, but Kaufman described the tribunal's decision "to be erroneous." He noted that the ruling rejected "unprecedented State guarantees for a debilitated and cognitively-impaired 80-year-old, (who has been) kept from the public eye for more than six months." In its 23-page decision, the ICC PreTrial Chamber I said Duterte should remain in detention to ensure that he would not obstruct or endanger the investigation and the proceedings.

It outlined why Duterte remains a flight risk and how he could pose a threat to potential witnesses.

The decision, signed by Judges Iulia Antoanella Motoc, Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera, also rejected the defense's arguments that Duterte should be released on the basis of humanitarian conditions.

"The Chamber notes that the Defense limits itself to argue that 'Mr. Duterte is 80 years old and medical reports'... without substantiating how detention is so detrimental that it justifies his release," read the ruling.