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Human rights lawyer insists there\u2019s \u2018strong evidence\u2019 why detained Filipino leader should stay in jail.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n International Criminal Court (ICC) appeals judges are set to rule on a request to release from detention former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has ongoing proceedings against him on charges of crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n The judges are scheduled to issue their ruling on Friday, paving the way for a possible provisional freedom of the ageing politician \u2013 a move strongly opposed by human rights groups and families of victims of his brutal drug war.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Duterte\u2019s legal team\u00a0is appealing an October decision to keep him in custody after judges found that he was likely to refuse to return for trial and could use his freedom to intimidate witnesses.<\/p>\n Prosecutors at the ICC\u00a0say Duterte was involved in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs when in office, first as the mayor of a southern city and later as president from 2016 to 2022.<\/p>\n According to court filings, Duterte instructed and authorised \u201cviolent acts including murder to be committed against alleged criminals, including alleged drug dealers and users\u201d.<\/p>\n Estimates of the death toll during Duterte\u2019s presidential term vary.<\/p>\n National police put the figure at more than 6,000, while human rights groups claimed up to 30,000 killings.<\/p>\n Families of victims hailed Duterte\u2019s arrest in March. He has been in detention at The Hague for more than eight months.<\/p>\n Duterte\u2019s lawyers say he is \u201cinfirm and debilitated\u201d and that it is \u201ccruel\u201d to keep him in custody during the trial. In September, the court postponed a pretrial hearing until a full medical assessment could be made.<\/p>\n According to filings by his lawyers, Duterte\u2019s \u201ccognitive faculties\u201d have declined to a level that he cannot assist his lawyers.<\/p>\n Family members who visited him in detention, however, contradicted those statements, saying he is doing \u201cwell\u201d and \u201cvery engaged\u201d.<\/p>\n In a separate visit, Duterte\u2019s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, had suggested that his supporters should march to his detention centre and stage a \u201cjailbreak\u201d.<\/p>\n If Duterte is released, he will not return to the Philippines but instead be transferred to the custody of another member state while proceedings continue.<\/p>\n Last month, judges\u00a0rejected a challenge to their jurisdiction in the case.<\/p>\n In Manila, Kristina Conti, a leading human rights lawyer who represents the families of victims, expressed 99 percent confidence that Duterte\u2019s appeal will be rejected.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a strong evidence why he [Duterte] should stay in jail,\u201d Conti said in a statement posted on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to point out that the defence is not contesting the reasonable basis that he committed crimes against humanity. The basis of the request [is] physical and mental health,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause there\u2019s a strong and factual legal findings in the pre-trial chamber, there\u2019s no reason why it should reverse its ruling in September and grant him interim release,\u201d Conti stressed, listing several other legal provisions.<\/p>\n ICC prosecutors announced in February 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the violence that took place during Duterte\u2019s time in power.<\/p>\n In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability, Duterte, who was still president, announced a month later that the Philippines was withdrawing its membership from the ICC.<\/p>\n The charges against Duterte date from November 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of the southern city of Davao, to March 16, 2019, when the withdrawal from the ICC took effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Human rights lawyer insists there\u2019s \u2018strong evidence\u2019 why detained Filipino leader should stay in jail. International Criminal Court (ICC) appeals judges are set to rule on a request to release from detention former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has ongoing proceedings against him on charges of crimes against humanity. The judges are scheduled to issue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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