Duterte remains flight risk, to commit further crimes despite new medical records from defense - ICC prosecutor

The Hague, Netherlands - Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court said Rodrigo Duterte remains a flight risk, pushing back against his lawyers’ claims that his medical condition should be a factor in his bid for interim release.

In a Sept. 29 filing, the Office of the Prosecutor told the court that the former president’s offer to abide by the conditions of release was “irrelevant to the issue of whether he should be granted interim release.”

It said “the relevant test is whether the conditions set forth in article 58(1) of the Statute remain fulfilled.”

Prosecutors argued that Duterte “would be a flight risk, is likely to interfere with the proceedings, and may commit further crimes” if freed.

On the same day, Duterte’s defense submitted new medical records, saying doctors have confirmed that he suffers from cognitive impairment.

“The evaluation … confirm, as long suspected, cognitive impairment,” defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman wrote. He said the impairment affects faculties “precisely those required to work on his legal case and with his Defence team” .

Kaufman rejected prosecutors’ earlier claims that the defense had made “serious unsubstantiated allegations” about Duterte’s condition. He told judges that the findings were “objective and corroborated by the neuropsychologist appointed by the ICC Detention Centre itself.”

However, prosecutors said during the past months, Duterte was able to instruct his lawyers to file a jurisdictional challenge, seek the disqualification of two judges, and negotiate terms of release.

These actions, they said, “contradict Defence Counsel’s recent proclamation” regarding his fitness to stand trial .

The court has postponed the confirmation of charges hearing, but only “to the time strictly necessary” to determine Duterte’s fitness. It ordered that proceedings should resume immediately if judges find him fit to participate .