Rodrigo Duterte, who served as Philippine President from 2016 to 2022, appeared for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Friday.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The International Criminal Court is now in session.
00:05The Chamber notes that your counsel, Mr. Duterte, filed two motions.
00:12One in relation with today's hearing.
00:15And you may be aware that these two motions have not been accepted by the Chamber.
00:28Two days ago, the whole world has witnessed the degrading fashion
00:33in which a former president of a sovereign country
00:37was bundled into a private aircraft and summarily transported to The Hague.
00:45To us lawyers, this would be called an extrajudicial rendition.
00:52To the less legally inclined, it was a pure and simple kidnapping.
00:58My client was denied all access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship
01:06and this all in the nature of political score settling.
01:11With this in mind, it is not surprising that my client was abducted from his country.
01:17ICC private jets do not drop out of the thin air.
01:22That jet which received my client was coordinated in advance.
01:28I believe that the court has taken specific measures with regard to his health situation
01:38and I note that subsequent to his arrest and when he arrived at the detention center,
01:44the court's doctor was of the opinion that you were fully mentally aware and fit
01:54and that you have undergone further checks and tests at the detention facility.
02:00And when you broached health matters saying that you were not able to come to the hearing,
02:06the doctors who consulted with you were of the opinion that Mr. Duterte was not in a position to come to the hearing physically
02:15but that if he gave written permission, he would be able to take part via video link.
02:21Now that is with regard to the health matters that you just mentioned.
02:26They are very important, especially concerning the matter of age.