Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is requesting interim release from detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC), with his legal team claiming a foreign government has offered to host him.
In a filing submitted on June 12, Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, said the country—which remains unnamed—is a party to the Rome Statute and has agreed to receive Duterte on its soil. The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC.
“Mr. Duterte is not a flight risk, and custody is not necessary to ensure his appearance before the Court,” Kaufman stated. He argued that the former president would not dishonor his host by breaching the terms of any release, adding, “There is more than good reason to believe that Mr. Duterte would not embarrass his hosts… by violating the terms of his release.”
The defense also insisted that Duterte would not commit further crimes if released, emphasizing that he would be “residing well outside the geographic scope of the alleged crimes,” which pertain to actions during his administration in the Philippines.
Kaufman further noted that the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor does not oppose Duterte’s interim release, as long as specific conditions are met. “He does not pose an objective risk of flight, nor is his arrest necessary to ensure the integrity of the investigations,” he added.
Duterte has been in ICC custody at the detention facility in Scheveningen, The Hague since March. The Pre-Trial Chamber I is expected to decide on the request after receiving formal observations from the prosecution and the victims’ representatives.
