Duterte stays in ICC custody as court defers interim release decision

Metro Manila, Philippines - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has postponed its decision on former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s request for interim release, choosing instead to wait for further action from his legal team.

In a ruling issued on July 23, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I said it will “defer the issuance of its decision on the Interim Release Request until further action is undertaken by the Defence on the matter, or until when the Chamber will deem it appropriate”.

The decision was made by majority vote, with Judges Iulia Antoanella Motoc and Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou supporting the deferment. Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera dissented in part. The court emphasized that this delay “shall not be construed as prejudging any matter to be determined in the context of the proceedings related to the Interim Release Request”.

Duterte’s legal team filed the original motion for release on June 12, followed by a separate request on July 14 asking the court to suspend the adjudication until they had gathered all necessary information. The court agreed to address only this first issue, rejecting a second request from the defense related to procedural matters as being outside the scope of the motion.

The prosecution strongly objected to the deferment, arguing that the defense’s failure to fully support its own “urgent motion” was due to its own premature filing.

“The fact that the Defence finds itself in the situation where it is unable to substantiate assertions made in its own, urgent motion, is entirely due to the Defence’s choice to file prematurely,” prosecutors stated. They argued the court “should not be permitted to suspend issuance of the decision… simply so that [the Defence] may, at some unknown point in the future, attempt to supplement its submission”.

Duterte remains in detention at the ICC’s Scheveningen facility in The Hague, Netherlands, where he has been held since his arrest earlier this year.

He faces charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his administration’s violent anti-drug campaign, known as Oplan Tokhang.

In a message sent to Newswatch Plus, ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah confirmed Duterte’s continued detention.

“There is no change in the status of Mr. Duterte. He is still at the ICC detention centre,” the ICC spokesperson said.