A Catholic priest renewed calls for justice for victims of the Philippines’ anti-drug campaign after former President Rodrigo Duterte appeared in person before the International Criminal Court for the first time on Sept. 16.
Father Flavie L. Villanueva, SVD, reacted to Duterte’s courtroom appearance by invoking accountability for those killed during the former president’s anti-drug campaign.
“I saw evil resurfaced again!” Villanueva wrote on social media. He also called for justice for all those killed and referred to blood on Duterte’s hands.
Duterte, 81, appeared before the ICC in The Hague for a status hearing as he faces three counts of crimes against humanity.
Prosecutors allege his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018 during his campaign against suspected drug users and sellers.
The former president had appeared by video link when he was first brought before the court and had since skipped hearings, with his defense team saying he was too ill to attend.
Duterte remained in the courtroom throughout the hearing, which lasted one hour and 15 minutes. He did not speak during the proceedings but waved at the public gallery after the judge left the courtroom.
Judge Joanna Korner noted that it was Duterte’s first in-person appearance before the court and said he could leave at any time without seeking permission from the bench.
Korner set Nov. 30 as the start of Duterte’s trial.
The hearing also dealt with a dispute over the volume of evidence filed by prosecutors. The prosecution said the material amounted to about 15,000 pieces, while the defense put the number at more than 62,000 documents.
“It’s quite enormous. It’s impossible,” said defense lawyer Peter Haynes. “We haven’t got a prayer of reading” the documents before the trial begins.
“The current state of the case is a mess. If I had a younger, healthier client, I would invite you to put back the trial by six months… but I don’t,” said Duterte’s lawyer.
Korner criticized what she called the “wholesale dumping” of documents and urged both sides to work together to reduce the case file.
Relatives of people killed during the anti-drug campaign welcomed Duterte’s appearance in court.
“Of course, we are very happy that he is now able to attend in person,” said Randy Delos Santos, an uncle of Kian Delos Santos, a teenager killed by police in August 2017.
“We hope that his being physically fit will help speed up the hearings,” Delos Santos told AFP in Manila.
ICC judges are also considering whether Duterte is mentally fit to stand trial and have ordered a medical assessment by three experts. The assessment has not been made public.
In a submission published Sept. 15, Duterte’s lawyers said he suffered from “significant memory impairment that prevents him from retaining recent information and reliably accessing memories.”
Duterte has maintained his innocence.
His former defense lawyer Nicolas Kaufman told ICC judges in February that the evidence against him was “wholly insufficient” and that the charges were “grievously misplaced and politically motivated.”
Duterte is the first Asian former head of state to face trial before the ICC. – with reports from Agence France-Presse
