ICC confirms consultations with Netherlands on Duterte’s interim release

The Hague, Netherlands - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed that it consulted the Netherlands over the possible interim release of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been in ICC custody since March on charges linked to his administration’s bloody war on drugs.

In a public redacted report released Sept. 26, the ICC Registry said Dutch authorities submitted observations after being invited by the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber to weigh in on Duterte’s request for interim release. The court also sought input from another undisclosed state.

Duterte, 80, was arrested and surrendered to the ICC on March 12 following a warrant issued five days earlier. His defense later petitioned the chamber to allow him temporary release to a third country under Article 60(2) of the Rome Statute.

The registry’s filing confirmed that the Kingdom of the Netherlands — the ICC’s host state — responded to the court on July 2. Details of the Dutch government’s position were redacted in the public version of the report.

Vice President Sara Duterte, meanwhile, publicly pushed for her father’s release during a trip to Japan. Speaking to supporters in Tokyo, she said interim release would require “a third country, or a country that will accept [former] President Duterte.”

The vice president said in September that a third country has already been secured, adding she personally negotiated with foreign contacts to find a host country as she could not trust anyone in the Philippines to help.