Prosecutor’s removal from Duterte case has ‘no impact’ – ICC

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Khan has been on leave since May, but his deputy says their 'activities in this case will continue'

MANILA, Philippines – The International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday, October 15, that the removal of Prosecutor Karim Khan from the case against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte “has no impact on the case itself,” according to Court spokesperson Fadi el Abdallah.

“This disqualification from this case does not have an impact on the case itself, so it does not have an impact on the case against Mr. Rodrigo Duterte. The activities of the Office of the Prosecutor related to the situation in the Philippines continues to be led by the Deputy Prosecutor,” El Abdallah said in a statement Wednesday.

A separate set of five judges in the appeals chamber decided on October 2 to disqualify Khan from the Duterte case due to “objectively reasonable appearance of bias.” The decision was made public on Wednesday.

Khan, who’s been on leave since May due to an internal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, was disqualified because of his prior assistance to Filipino drug war victims. Khan assisted Filipino victims in 2018 in his capacity as a private lawyer. He was elected ICC prosecutor in 2021.

Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang has been in charge of the Duterte case since Khan went on leave. The Office of the Prosecutor said on Wednesday that their “activities in this case will continue, contributing to ensuring that justice is pursued impartially and independently.”

“The Office has been able to advance the case against Mr. Duterte solely on the strength of independently gathered evidence, and information collected from a wide range of sources, including interviews with witnesses, information from States, international partners, and civil society, as well as publicly available information,” said the Office of the Prosecutor.

“The victims and survivors in the Philippines situation deserve justice and accountability,” the Office of the Prosecutor added.

Duterte’s lead defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman failed to disqualify the judges in the case, but was successful in his attempt against Khan.

Khan was disqualified on the basis of Rule 34(1)(c) of the ICC rules, which disqualifies a judge or a prosecutor if they had “performance of functions, prior to taking office, during which he or she could be expected to have formed an opinion on the case in question, on the parties or on their legal representatives that, objectively, could adversely affect the required impartiality of the person concerned.”

“The Appeals Chamber considers that a fair-minded and reasonable observer could conclude that there is a reasonable appearance of bias in the specific circumstances of the present case,” said the decision.

Duterte has earlier been denied an interim release, and is going through neuropsychiatry examinations to confirm if he is indeed unfit for trial. – Rappler.com