📷ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti
Incriminating videos of former President Rodrigo Duterte discussing his lethal anti-drug campaign will be good evidence in the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) case against him, according to lawyers representing the victims.
In a phone interview with Inquirer, ICC-accredited lawyer Kristina Conti explained that substantial evidence gathered during the ICC’s preliminary examination and investigation was derived from Duterte’s own public statements.
“Videos of Duterte making statements will be included because they serve as evidence of his intention,” Conti said.
The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor, headed by Karim Khan, has submitted 421 pieces of written evidence, totaling 8,565 pages, for review by Duterte’s defense team.
Among the potential documentary evidence is the Philippine National Police’s Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016, which initiated “Project Double Barrel” on Duterte’s first day in office, July 1, 2016. This program replicated the Davao City anti-narcotics strategy at the national level.
“That circular is certainly included because it has a national scope,” Conti, who collaborates with the advocacy group Rise Up for Life and Rights, representing families of drug war victims, emphasized.
While investigators amassed substantial evidence during the probe, the court will focus on documents and videos that are “emblematic of the actual merits of the case”—those that point to Duterte’s role as a mastermind or “indirect accomplice.” (TCSP)
