Former President Rodrigo Duterte will not attend the International Criminal Court (ICC) hearing on his appeal for interim release, his legal counsel confirmed.
In a filing dated November 27, Duterte’s lawyer Nicholas Kaufman informed the ICC Appeals Chamber that the former president signed a waiver, choosing not to exercise his right to be present during the reading of the judgment. “With the leave of the Appeals Chamber, the Defence hereby places on the record Mr. Duterte’s signed waiver of his right to be present on November 28, during the reading of the judgment on the Defence appeal against Pre-Trial Chamber I’s decision on interim release,” Kaufman said.
The ICC confirmed that Duterte will be represented by his defense counsel during the hearing, which is scheduled for November 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Duterte faces three counts of murder related to 49 killings and is currently detained at Scheveningen Prison in The Hague. Human rights groups estimate the number of killings could be as high as 20,000.
His legal team has argued that he is unfit to stand trial. The ICC took custody of Duterte following his arrest and transfer to The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s anti-drug campaign, known as Oplan Tokhang, which reportedly left at least 6,000 people dead.
