MANILA: The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said it would not take a stance on the defence’s motion seeking to disqualify the external legal representatives of the victims in the case of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
This was made clear by Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang in a three-page document dated Feb 16.
“Should it assist the chamber in considering the defence’s request, the prosecution confirms that it will not rely on [REDACTED] for the confirmation of charges hearing. The prosecution also does not intend to rely on [REDACTED] at trial,” the filing states.
“This filing is classified as confidential pursuant to regulation 23bis(1) and (2) of the Regulations of the Court (the “Regulations”), as it contains sensitive information which could impact the security of Prosecution witnesses and ongoing investigations. It also responds to a filing with the same classification,” it adds.
Earlier, The defense team asked the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I to revoke the designations of Filipino lawyers Joel Butuyan, Gilbert Andres, and Nicole Arcaina in the case of Duterte due to “conflict of interest” and for posing an “impediment to representation.”
Should they be disqualified, the defense pointed out that a counsel from the Office of Public Counsel for the Victims may “adequately represent” the interests of the victims to avoid further delays in Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing beginning Feb 23.
The ICC currently has custody of Duterte after he was arrested and sent to The Hague for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody war against drugs.
The anti-drug campaign dubbed as Oplan Tokhang left at least 6,000 people dead but human rights groups have reported at least 20,000 killed. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
