ASEAN Beat | Society | Southeast Asia

Former Philippine President Duterte Fit to Stand Trial, ICC Says

An independent panel of experts said that the 81-year-old “has the capacity to understand the charges” and “the purpose and consequences” of the trial proceedings.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte attends a status conference at Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Sep. 16, 2026.

Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have ruled ‌that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is fit to stand trial on charges linked to his violent “war on drugs.”

The ruling by Trial Chamber III, which was made on September 28 but only made public yesterday, was “based on the findings of an independent Panel of Experts as well as on submissions made by the parties and participants on these issues,” the ICC said in a statement.

“The Expert Panel unanimously found that the Accused has the capacity to understand the charges, understand the purpose and consequences of the proceedings, follow the course of the proceedings, including the nature and implications of entering a plea, understand the evidence, and instruct counsel in the preparation and conduct of his defense,” it said.

Duterte, 81, is set to go on trial on November 30, and faces three charges of crimes against humanity for extrajudicial killings carried out during the anti-drug campaign, a flagship policy of his administration between 2016 and 2022.

Duterte’s attorneys claimed last year that he was in frail health and that his condition was deteriorating in the ICC’s detention unit. In one filing in June, they argued that the ex-president’s illness and “advanced age” created “compelling humanitarian grounds” for judges to grant his interim release. In January, judges rejected the defense claims, arguing that Duterte “is able effectively to exercise his procedural rights and is therefore fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings.”

The September........

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