ICC Announces November 30 as Start Date for Trial of Former Philippine President |
ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia
ICC Announces November 30 as Start Date for Trial of Former Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity involving the murders of at least 76 people during violent anti-drug crackdowns.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appears via videolink during a pre-trial hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Mar. 14, 2025.
Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have set November 30 as the start date for the trial of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is charged with crimes against humanity linked to his violent anti-crime campaigns.
In a statement yesterday, The Hague-based court said that the timing of the trial of the 81-year-old had been determined by the ICC Trial Chamber after reviewing submissions by prosecutors, Duterte’s defense team, and the legal representatives of victims.
According to Rappler, victims were pushing for September 30 as the start date, but in the end, the Trial Chamber acceded to the prosecution’s preference for November 30.
“The trial will run on a daily basis until [we] reach judicial recess,” Presiding Judge Joanna Korner said during a status conference yesterday.
Duterte, 81, is facing three counts of crimes against humanity involving the murders of at least 76 people and the attempted murder of two others. Nineteen of the alleged murders were carried out between 2013 and 2016, when Duterte was mayor of Davao City. The remainder were committed during his “war on drugs” campaign, which raged throughout Duterte’s six years in office (2016-2022), and resulted in the deaths of between around 6,000 – the official estimate of the Philippine police – to as many as 30,000.
The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges against Duterte last month, ordering the case to go to trial. The chamber’s judges concluded that “there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder.” These crimes “were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population on the territory of the Republic of the Philippines” between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019. This period ends on the date that he withdrew the country from the ICC’s Rome Statute.
While Duterte waived his right to be present at yesterday’s hearing, as he has also been on many occasions during the pre-trial process, Duterte is mandated to appear in person at the trial. The former leader has always defended the crackdown, which was generally popular with the Philippine public during his years in power, and insisted he instructed police to kill only in self-defense.
Duterte was arrested in Manila in March 2025 and........