MANILA, Philippines — The defense camp of former President Rodrigo Duterte is pushing back against the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution’s request to inspect his personal property and freeze any cash confiscated during his arrest last year.
The prosecution first submitted these requests on May 1 and followed up on June 9, though Trial Chamber III only made them public on Friday night.
In its observations on May 18, the defense urged the chamber to reject the first request of the prosecution to have any cash seized from Duterte frozen, calling it “unnecessary” and pointless at this point.
“An order from the Trial Chamber to the Registry to freeze any money within the obtained items will have no practical impact upon the existing state of affairs. The money (if any) is in the possession of the Registry and will remain so, whether or not the Registry is subject to any order from the Trial Chamber to ‘freeze’ it,” said the defense led by British barrister Peter Haynes.
But should the TC III grant the prosecution request, Duterte’s defense lawyers asked the court to direct the Registry, the ICC office handling administrative affairs, that it take necessary measures to “prevent any devaluation.”
