ICC denies Duterte’s appeal to excuse 2 judges from his case

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The Duterte camp earlier asked the court to excuse the judges 'given the possibility of perceived bias'

MANILA, Philippines – The International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I has denied the appeal of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team to remove two judges as magistrates in his ongoing case at The Hague, Netherlands.

The all-women chamber, led by Presiding Judge Iulia Antoanella Motoc, denied the appeal in a resolution dated Tuesday, May 6. Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini Gansou and María del Socorro Flores Liera also signed the court order.

On May 1, the Duterte camp filed the petition to seek the excusal of Judges Gansou and Liera “given the possibility of perceived bias” which would arise “out of the Judges’ prior ruling on substantially the same issue in the Situation in the Republic of the Philippines.”

Prosecutor Karim Khan’s office opposed the said petition.

“The Chamber recalls that, pursuant to article 41 of the Rome Statute and rules 34 and 35 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, a judge’s excusal from the exercise of a function may only be sought by the concerned judge directly before the Presidency, as opposed to disqualification for which the Prosecution or the person being investigated or prosecuted may submit a request before the Presidency,” the judges’ resolution read.

“As stated by the Presidency, ‘no preemptive request may be made by the parties that a judge request his or her excusal’ and such course of action ‘lacks procedural propriety,'” it added.

Apart from asking the judges’ excusal, Duterte also officially asked the ICC to completely junk the case against him. The former president’s pre-trial hearing, where the judges could confirm his charges, is set on September 23.

Duterte is currently detained in the Netherlands following his arrest in March over his crimes against humanity case. He is the first former Philippine president and former Asian head of state to be arrested over the said case.

His case stemmed from the alleged killings under his war on drugs that took the lives of nearly 30,000, based on human rights groups’ tallies, and Duterte’s so-called Davao Death Squad. Duterte was arrested through the Philippines’ cooperation with the Interpol since the country is a member-country of the international organization.

Despite his detention, Duterte is seeking a political comeback as he runs again for Davao City mayor, with his son, incumbent Mayor Sebastian Duterte, as his running mate. If Duterte is elected, the city would be under his family’s rule for another three years or 37 years in total. – Rappler.com