Former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte made his initial appearance before the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber 1 on Friday (March 14), two days after his high-profile arrest in relation to his administration's war on drugs.
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Short filmTranscript
00:12Please be seated.
00:34Good morning.
00:35I would like to welcome everyone inside and outside of the courtroom.
00:41Now, before we start with today's initial appearance,
00:45I would like to remind you that the chamber has authorized a video recordings
00:52and the taking of photographs. Please go ahead.
01:05Thank you. You have one minute to take photographs and record videos.
01:27Thank you very much.
01:29Court officer, could you please call the case?
01:35Thank you, Madam President. Your Honours.
01:39The situation in the Republic of the Philippines.
01:43Case, the Prosecutor versus Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
01:50Case number ICC 0121, 0125.
01:56And we are in open session.
02:01Thank you very much.
02:03I will now ask the parties to introduce themselves, starting with the Office of the Prosecutor.
02:09Please pause before speaking and speak slowly to allow the interpreters to interpret appropriately.
02:18May I ask you to introduce yourself and to confirm whether the list of your staff that I received prior
02:24to the hearing is correct, Mr. Prosecutor.
02:28Madam President, Your Honours. Good morning. The list is correct.
02:31Once again, Deputy Prosecutor Manjaye Niang, to my left.
02:36Trial Lawyer, Edward Jeremy, behind us.
02:40Trial Lawyer, Robin Croft.
02:43International Cooperation Advisor, Chantelle Daniels.
02:48And our very able case manager, Grace Goh.
02:52I'm Karim Khan, the Prosecutor.
02:55Thank you very much.
02:56Thank you very much.
02:59I now turn to the Council for the Defence of Mr. Duterte.
03:03As everyone can see, Mr. Duterte is present and is attending the hearing via video link.
03:10As Mr. Duterte made a long journey involving a considerable time difference, the Chamber authorised Mr. Duterte to follow the
03:20hearing at a distance.
03:21His Council, however, is present with us in the courtroom.
03:26Thank you, Council.
03:27Please introduce yourself.
03:31Good afternoon, Your Honours.
03:33I am Salvador C. Medjeldea, Council for Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
03:43Thank you very much.
03:46Thank you very much, Council.
03:47I will now introduce the Chamber.
03:50By my side, we have the Judge Maria, Judge Rain Adelaide Sophie Alapine-Gansoud, the Vice President of the Court,
04:01and Judge Maria del Socorro Flores Liera.
04:05I am the presiding judge of the Pretrial Chamber 1 of the Court, and my name is Julia Antoinella Mortoc.
04:12Now, I would like to speak to you, Mr. Duterte.
04:15I am speaking French, but you are receiving interpretation of what I am saying in English.
04:21I understand that you are at ease in the English language, and that the interview yesterday at the detention centre
04:28was conducted in English, and that you did not deem it necessary to request interpretation into any other language during
04:35this interview.
04:37This said, I would like firstly to confirm your identity. Could you provide us with your full names, please?
04:44I am Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
04:54First, middle name is Roa.
04:58The surname is Duterte.
05:09Thank you very much.
05:11Thank you very much. What is your date of birth?
05:17Again, ma'am.
05:24Can we request that the question be repeated? I don't think he heard it. Thank you.
05:34Repetition from the English booth. What is your date of birth?
05:36Yes, thank you very much, counsel. I was asking quite simply of Mr. Duterte what his full names were, and
05:44then I subsequently asked him what his date of birth was,
05:47and what his place of birth is. Is that all right, counsel?
05:53Yes. Of course, I will. My birth date is March 28, 1945.
06:06I was born in the province of Leiter, in the Philippines.
06:18Thank you very much.
06:21As a preliminary point, it is useful to clarify the nature and limited scope of this first appearance hearing.
06:36Today's hearing is neither the start of the trial, nor is it a confirmation of charges hearing.
06:46During today's hearing, no evidence will be collected or presented, and the issues of Mr. Duterte's guilt or innocence will
06:55therefore not be addressed.
06:59In accordance with Article 61 of the Rome Statute, the Court's Founding Treaty and Rule 1211 of the Rules of
07:10Procedure and Evidence,
07:12the main purpose of this initial appearance is to answer three questions.
07:18Firstly, the Chamber must ensure that the person who was the subject of the arrest warrant has been informed of
07:30the crimes of which he is accused.
07:33Second, the Chamber must ensure that this person has been informed of his rights as recognised by the Rome Statute.
07:45Third, the Chamber must set a date on which it intends to hold a confirmation of charges hearing.
07:57The Chamber notes that your counsel, Mr. Duterte, filed two motions, one in relation with today's hearing,
08:09and you may be aware that these two motions have not been accepted by the Chamber
08:23because of the nature of today's hearing.
08:26No further discussion on the matter is necessary during this hearing because, as I said at an earlier stage,
08:36the aim of this hearing today is to introduce the parties and to ascertain the charges
08:45and to set a date for the confirmation of charges hearing at a later stage.
08:52With regard to the first point, I recall that Mr. Duterte has received a copy of the warrant for his
08:59arrest
09:00and that a redacted version of the prosecution's application for the issuance of the warrant of arrest is public.
09:09I will now ask the Court Officer to read the charges against him.
09:15The charges will be read in English.
09:17Please, over to you, Madam Courtroom Officer.
09:21Thank you, Madam President. Your Honours.
09:23On 7 March 2025, Pre-Trial Chamber 1 concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is
09:35criminally responsible,
09:36the case of the law, pursuant to Article 25.3a of the Rome Statute, as an alleged indirect co-perpetrator
09:46for the crime against humanity of murder,
09:50pursuant to Article 7.1a of the Statute, as follows.
09:55A. Murder of at least 19 persons, allegedly drug pushers or thieves, killed by members of the Davao Death Squad
10:07in various locations in or around Davao City, Philippines between 2011 and 2016.
10:16B. Murder of at least 24 persons, allegedly criminals, such as drug pushers or thieves or drug users, killed by
10:29or under the supervision of members of the Philippines law enforcement,
10:34sometimes with the assistance of persons who were not part of the police, at various locations in the Philippines between
10:432016 and 2019.
10:51Thank you, Madam Courtroom Officer.
10:56Mr. Duterte, I'm not going to ask you to stand up, because I know your condition, so I'm going to
11:02allow you to remain seated.
11:05You have just heard the reading of the charges, which are in accordance with the content of the arrest warrant
11:11you received.
11:13This means that you have been informed of the crimes of which you are accused.
11:18And this concludes the examination of the first point mentioned above.
11:22I will now turn to the second point, which concerns your rights as a suspect before this court.
11:30I will summarise some of these rights, which are of particular importance at this stage of the proceedings.
11:38Those rights are as follows.
11:41You can benefit from the assistance free of charge of a competent interpreter,
11:46and benefit from the necessary translations to meet the requirements of fairness.
11:54You have the right to have the time and facilities necessary to prepare your defence,
12:02and to communicate freely and confidentially with the counsel of your choice.
12:09You have the right to remain silent, and you cannot be forced to testify against yourself or to confess guilt.
12:20You can also make statements in your defence without taking an oath.
12:27In addition to any other disclosure provided for in the statute,
12:33the prosecutor must disclose to you, as soon as practicable,
12:40evidence in his possession or at his disposal that shows or tends to show your innocence or to mitigate your
12:50guilt,
12:50or that could undermine the credibility of the evidence against you.
12:55At the confirmation of charges hearing, you can contest the charges, challenge the evidence presented by the prosecutor,
13:03and present evidence.
13:05There will be no trial if the charges are not confirmed, or if the proceedings against you are completed.
13:12You have the possibility to make an application for interim release pending trial.
13:16And finally, Mr Dutert, you have the right to be informed as soon as possible,
13:21and in detail, of the nature, cause and content of the charges,
13:28in the language that you fully understand and speak.
13:34Counsel, have you understood?
13:36Yes, we're listening, ma'am. We're listening.
13:39And before it ends, may we be allowed to present a manifestation on the circumstances
13:51behind the delivery of Mr Duterte in this chamber.
14:06Yes, counsel.
14:08This is as part of the procedure, and as we've said since the very outset,
14:15I need to ask Mr Duterte himself to make observations as to the condition of his surrender to the court,
14:26and the conditions of his detention at the detention facility of the court since his arrival.
14:34If he can please tell us these details.
14:39Can I do it at my time?
14:45Can I ask?
14:46The presiding judge. Yes, counsel.
14:50Please.
14:52Two days ago, the whole world has witnessed the degrading fashion in which a former president of a sovereign country
15:01was bundled into a private aircraft and summarily transported to The Hague.
15:09To us lawyers, this would be called an extrajudicial rendition.
15:15To the less legally inclined, it was a pure and simple kidnapping.
15:21My client was denied all access to the legal recourse in the country of his citizenship, and this all in
15:32the nature of political score settling.
15:35Two troubled entities struck an unlikely alliance.
15:42An incumbent president who wished to neutralize and choke the legacy of my client and his daughter, on the other
15:51hand,
15:51and a troubled legal institution subject to delegitimization and desperate for a price cuts and a legal show today, on
16:02the other hand.
16:05With this in mind, it is not surprising that my client was abducted from his country.
16:11ICC private jets do not drop out of the thin air.
16:16That jet which received my client was coordinated in advance.
16:22The UAE is not a state party to the ICC and has no obligation to cooperate with the court.
16:32Yet, my client sat in transit in that country for more than five hours.
16:38I invite the registry representative to present today in court to explain to the judges exactly how they believe this
16:49transfer was anything other than a gross abuse of process.
16:56Given the precipitous arrival of my client, an elderly man with debilitating medical issues, hard of hearing and poor of
17:06sight,
17:06he was taken to a hospital for observation.
17:11Only this morning have I met him for the first time with less than an hour to discuss legal issues.
17:24I have not been able to present him with a hard copy of the arrest warrant because we were not
17:31supplied with such.
17:32I have not even been able to explain to him what the prosecution requested when seeking the issuance of the
17:40arrest warrant.
17:41This is because the chamber only established a redacted version of the prosecution request last night.
17:49Other than to identify himself, my client is not able to contribute anything to this hearing.
17:57Most importantly, he is not able even to tell you that he has been informed of the charges as contained
18:05in the arrest warrant for a reason more pertinent to which I alluded in my written request to this honorable
18:15pretrial chamber this morning,
18:17and which is confidential in nature.
18:21Accordingly, I repeat my respectful request, which was rejected this morning, to postpone the substantive aspect of this hearing to
18:33the next week,
18:33when I will have the opportunity to sit with my client and to explain to him what the confirmation hearing
18:41is and what the disclosure is and how the prosecution alleges that he committed crimes.
18:48I thank the court for its attention and regret to say that I do not have instructions to continue my
18:55submission any further today. Thank you.
19:06Thank you, counsel. Now, with regard to the health issues of Mr. Duterte, I believe that the court has taken
19:19specific measures with regard to his health situation,
19:23and I note that subsequent to his arrest and when he arrived at the detention centre, the court's doctor was
19:32of the opinion that you were fully mentally aware and fit,
19:39and that you have undergone further checks and tests at the detention facility.
19:45And when you broached health matters that's saying that you were not able to come to the hearing, the doctors
19:52who consulted with you were of the opinion that Mr. Duterte was not in a position to come to the
20:00hearing physically,
20:00but that if he gave written permission, he would be able to take part via video link.
20:06Now, that is with regard to the health matters that you just mentioned. They are very important, especially concerning the
20:16matter of age.
20:18Now, with regard to the rights of Mr. Duterte, we have before us the registrar's or the registry's report that
20:27says that Mr. Duterte has been informed of his rights,
20:31including articles 66 and 67 of the Rome Statute, and that he is aware of his rights and that he
20:43is also aware of the charges against him.
20:46We have before us the report of the registry saying that he was also aware of the warrant of arrest
20:55in the English language
20:56and that he is very well versed in the English language. Once again, you have the possibility of these charges
21:06being read in English, which was the case today.
21:11I have read to you in the French language the rights that he has, Mr. Duterte, before this court.
21:19And I would like to specify once again that this is an initial hearing in order for Mr. Duterte to
21:32be aware of his rights and the charges against him.
21:36And then there will be a full procedure that will unfurl leading up to the confirmation of charges that will
21:48enable Mr. Duterte to raise all the matters that you have just raised with regard to the warrant of arrest,
21:55with regard to the crimes committed, with regards to the charges and any other matters associated with his arrest.
22:04And the matters of jurisdiction of the court. You have the opportunity to do this throughout these proceedings leading up
22:13to the actual confirmation of charges hearing.
22:17Now, counsel, with regard to your request for another hearing to be held next week, well, your initial request that
22:27was, this was not accepted by the court.
22:30Now, you have seen the two decisions of the court that have been disclosed to you, and you are aware
22:39of the fact that these two decisions were refused.
22:43And this is by then to the fact that this first initial appearance hearing does not need much preparation, as
22:50I have said to you on a number of occasions.
22:52I am now going to move on to the third stage, which is to set the date for the confirmation
23:01of charges hearing.
23:02After accessing all factors, including the need for the parties and participants to adequately prepare, as well as Mr. Duterte's
23:12rights, including his right to be tried within a reasonable time, the date for the commencement of the confirmation of
23:20charges hearing is September the 23rd, 2025.
23:27I would add that in accordance with rule 1217 of the rules of procedural evidence, this date may be postponed
23:35by the chamber, depending on the progress of the proceedings, either on its own motion or at the request of
23:43the prosecutor or the defence.
23:45Before concluding this hearing, I would like to inform the parties of the next procedural steps.
23:51First, I would like to recall that in accordance with rule 1212b of the rules of procedure and evidence, the
24:00chamber holds status conferences to ensure a small exchange of information under satisfactory conditions.
24:10These conferences are organised either ex officio or at the request of the prosecutor or the defence.
24:18Secondly, a set of decisions will be taken in a timely manner to ensure that the proceedings progress smoothly and
24:27expeditiously.
24:28More specifically, I am referring in particular to a decision on the arrangements and procedure for the disclosure of evidence
24:38and a decision setting a timetable for the disclosure of evidence in such a way as to ensure orderly and
24:48efficient disclosure between the parties.
24:51In this regard, the chamber orders the prosecutor to begin disclosing today the information on the basis of which the
25:00warrant of arrest was issued and to complete this disclosure no later than within the next seven days.
25:08The chamber will also issue a decision on the participation of the victims who, according to the statute of the
25:17court and to the extent permitted by the chamber, are authorised to present their views and concerns at this stage
25:25of the proceedings.
25:26We have come to the end of Mr. Duterte's first appearance hearing.
25:34I would like to thank all the participants in this hearing, the interpreters and the stenographers.
25:41This concludes today's hearing.
25:49You just heard from the lead judge there at the ICC, Yulia Antoinella Montauk.
25:58It was clinical.
26:01It was a procedure by the book, as one of our legal experts said a while ago, Jeff.
26:06But there was also a moment there where Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea also appealed for President Duterte.
26:14President Duterte was there, but he joined via a video link.
26:19According to Montauk, the biggest contention for them today, or the biggest agenda for them today, Carmina, was that the
26:26chamber must be informed, that the suspect must be informed of the crime, as expected.
26:32The two is to ensure that he has been informed of the rights according to the Rome Statute.
26:38And the third one is the date of the confirmation of charges hearing, which was set in September.
26:46September 23, 2025.
26:48That's a long ways to go.
26:49We're just in March.
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