MANILA: The defence lawyers of former president Rodrigo Duterte have expressed concern over the prosecution’s request for access to personal belongings and to freeze any money seized from the former leader after his arrest and surrender to the International Criminal Court (ICC) last year.
The requests, made public by the Trial Chamber (TC) III only on Friday (June 26) night, were first made by the prosecution on May 1 and again on June 9.
In its observations on May 18, the defence urged the chamber to reject the first request of the prosecution to have any cash seized from Duterte frozen, calling it “unnecessary” and pointless at this point.
“An order from the Trial Chamber to the Registry to freeze any money within the obtained items will have no practical impact upon the existing state of affairs. The money (if any) is in the possession of the Registry and will remain so, whether or not the Registry is subject to any order from the Trial Chamber to ‘freeze’ it,” said the defence led by British barrister Peter Haynes.
But should the TC III grant the prosecution request, Duterte’s lawyers asked the court to direct the Registry, the ICC office handling administrative affairs, that it take necessary measures to “prevent any devaluation.”
Under Regulation 192 of the ICC Registry, court personnel shall make an inventory of the money, clothing and other effects upon detention of the accused, who would be duly informed of such custody.
The list of items would be placed in the court records and remain confidential.
Duterte was arrested in March last year in Manila and was flown to The Hague, the Netherlands, to face charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the brutal war on drugs he waged on suspected criminals.
His trial is set to begin on Nov 30 where his presence is mandatory.
Meanwhile, the defense also asked the TC III to deny the prosecution’s request for access to Duterte’s items, which include “all keys” seized from him, as it may infringe on his privacy rights.
Other items in the inventory kept at the ICC detention centre were redacted in the filing.
“It is unclear to what the keys relate, or indeed whether they belong to Mr Duterte at all, having been seized while he was travelling with members of his family. It is entirely possible that the keys provide access to material belonging to, or concerning, his relatives, such that their examination would intrude upon the privacy rights of third parties,” Duterte’s lawyers said.
The Registry, for its part, also submitted its observations for both requests and said that it would be ready to comply with any directive from the TC III. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
