HOME > INQUIRER > Article

Text Size

small

medium

large


Rodrigo Duterte wants Medialdea as legal counsel in ICC trial

Rodrigo Duterte wants Medialdea as legal counsel in ICC trial

Provided by INQUIRER.net.



MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants his former executive secretary in Malacañang — Salvador Medialdea — to be his legal counsel, according to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a handwritten letter dated March 12, 2025, Duterte wrote: “I, Rodrigo R. Duterte, hereby appoint Atty. Salvador Medialdea as one of my counsels in the ICC proceedings.”

Duterte will face the ICC’s pre-trial in The Hague, Netherlands, at 2:00 p.m. on Friday (9:00 p.m. Philippine time).

The former president arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday night (Philippine time) and was turned over to the ICC Detention Center in Scheveningen, The Hague.

He was the subject of an arrest warrant by the ICC over crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between November 1, 2011, and March 16, 2019.

The country was still party to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC accord during this period.

In March 2018, Duterte declared the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute or the treaty that established the criminal court.

But the withdrawal took effect a year later, or in March 2019, so the ICC retained jurisdiction over alleged crimes in the Philippines based on the time when the country was still a member.

The war against illegal drugs that took place during Duterte's presidential term claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data.

Human rights watchdogs and the ICC prosecutor estimated the death toll to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.

They said several of these incidents were extrajudicial killings.

INQUIRER

HEADLINES

POLITICS
Global Experts Seek Urgent Action to Avert Nuclear War at End of 2-Day Meeting
ECONOMY
Japan's Mizuho Financial Group to Quit Int'l Group Committed to Decarbonization
SPORTS
Men's Tennis: Kei Nishikori of Japan Drops 2 Spots to 66th in WTA World Rankings
OTHER
Fuji Media 3rd-Party Committee Recognizes Sexual Assault by Former TV Star Nakai

AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


Photos