LAWYERS of detained former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte have asked the International Criminal Court’s pre-trial chamber to nullify his case and order his release.
Duterte, who ruled the Southeast Asian nation from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila in March for alleged crimes against humanity during his deadly war on drugs. He was flown to The Hague hours after his arrest where he was taken into ICC custody.
The ICC is not in a position to exercise jurisdiction in the Philippines after it withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019, lawyers Nicholas Kaufman and Dov Jacobs said in their submission on May 1.
“The Defence requests the Pre-Trial Chamber find that there is no legal basis for the continuation of the proceedings against Mr Rodrigo Roa Duterte and to order his immediate and unconditional release,” their submission read.
The ICC earlier said it had jurisdiction in the Philippines with respect to the alleged crimes that occurred when the nation was still a state party between November 2011 and before its withdrawal in March 2019.
The request from Duterte’s lawyers comes ahead of the Philippines’ midterm election on May 12. The former president is running for mayor of southern Davao City, a post he held before winning the presidency in 2016. –BLOOMBERG
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