ICC prosecutors in Duterte case to present 5 witnesses before year-end

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution team said it plans to present five witnesses in person before the tribunal before the end of the year.

During the ICC Trial Chamber III’s fourth status conference on Tuesday, Presiding Judge Joanna Korner sought confirmation from the prosecution on the number of witnesses expected to testify in person before the trial begins on November 30.

“They will all be present unless something unforeseen… that’s the plan; they will all be here. They will be 1302, 1100, 1400, 1263, and 0009… those are the five that we plan for this year,” ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls said.

The witnesses are identified by numerical codes to protect their identities. They are expected to appear before the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, and may provide testimony in person or through statements, depending on the court’s arrangements.

Nicholls said the prosecution had already dropped several witnesses for various reasons.

“We do expect that all the witnesses won’t be called, and we expect that some of the ones I won’t go into the reasons for now, but some of the witnesses we hope to call will not appear, so if we have two witnesses that give similar testimony, there’s a reason for that, which is that they both might not arrive,” Nicholls said.

Korner also questioned the prosecution’s plan to submit 1,000 newspaper clippings documenting killings in Davao City during Duterte’s tenure as mayor. Nicholls said the reports helped establish the number of killings during a period when no one was keeping track.

Korner said proceedings during the trial’s opening week, from November 30 to December 4, would be held in four daily sessions: 10 to 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., and 3 to 4 p.m., following The Hague time.

The sessions will include 30-minute breaks, with a one-hour lunch break between the second and third sessions.

Duterte’s family visits

During the conference, Duterte’s defense counsel Peter Haynes proposed adjusting the trial schedule to accommodate family visits.

“Those of us who have been there know that the journey time to Davao is 30 hours. And his family, as you know, are senior politicians, congressmen, mayors, and law students, and they arrange their visits to him a long time in advance to fit their busy professional and family schedules. And you know from the medical evidence you've received how important family visits are to his mental well-being,” Haynes said.

Haynes warned that a continuous trial schedule could limit Duterte’s time with his family. He proposed having breaks in the proceedings and giving the family advance notice of the schedule so they could arrange their visits.

Korner said the court would consider the proposal.

Duterte remains detained at the ICC detention facility in The Hague. He faces crimes against humanity charges in connection with his administration’s war on drugs, which killed more than 6,000 people, according to government data. —VBL, GMA News