Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte appeal against ICC trial quashed

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte could still stand trial over his war on drugs after International Criminal Court (ICC) judges threw out a court challenge, as the 81-year-old faces three counts of crimes against humanity at the international court based in The Hague over murders allegedly committed as part of his crackdown on drug users and pushers.

The allegations are related to his time as mayor of Davao city between 2013 and 2016, and then as president until March 2019 when the Philippines withdrew from the ICC. Mr Duterte’s defence had argued the court had no jurisdiction over alleged crimes in the Philippines because the country is no longer subject to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding text.

At hearings in February the prosecution alleged Mr Duterte was responsible for thousands of deaths during his war on drugs. His defence said there was no “smoking gun” directly linking Mr Duterte’s fiery rhetoric and threats against drug users and actual murders.

The court “has rejected all four grounds of appeal,” said presiding judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza. “Having rejected the entire appeal, the appeal chamber considers that the defence request for the immediate and unconditional release of Mr Duterte is moot”.

Mr Duterte’s defence lawyer Nicholas Kaufman said he was not surprised by the verdict given the fact that Mr Duterte’s trial is the one remaining high-profile case at the ICC. “Allowing the appeal would have practically emptied the Court’s docket,” he said in a statement to AFP.

The court granted Duterte request not to appear for the hearings in February, with his defence saying he was not mentally fit, and he also did not appear at Thursday’s reading of the decision. The only time he has been seen since his arrest and transfer to The Hague was at an initial appearance via videolink, at which he came across as confused and exhausted.