Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed.
Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site.
ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.”
Photo: AFP
“Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines [including those perceived or alleged to be associated with drug use, sale or production] through violent crimes including murder,” the document read.
Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief and enforcer of Duterte’s drug war, has previously said he believed he faced potential arrest and has not been seen publicly in months.
Go, re-elected in May last year in a landslide victory, was a key lieutenant of Duterte during the latter’s term as Davao City mayor and while president.
A representative of Dela Rosa said they had not yet seen the document.
Calls to Go were unreturned.
It was not immediately clear if any of the men named in the prosecution document would face charges in court.
Duterte is facing a four-day “confirmation of charges” hearing starting Feb. 23, where judges decide whether the prosecution’s allegations are strong enough to proceed to trial.
Judges have rejected arguments that the 80-year-old, who was arrested in March last year and transferred to the Netherlands the same day, was unfit to stand trial.
Go and Dela Rosa have been named as coperpetrators in acts that took place while Duterte was mayor and later as president.
Former Philippine secretary of justice Vitaliano Aguirre II, who served as Duterte’s lawyer in cases involving the so-called Davao Death Squad, is also among the eight men named.
The first of three counts against Duterte concerns his alleged involvement as a coperpetrator in 19 murders carried out between 2013 and 2016 while he was mayor of Davao City.
The second relates to 14 murders of so-called “High Value Targets” in 2016 and 2017 when he was president.
The third charge covers 43 murders committed during “clearance” operations of lower-level alleged drug users or pushers.
These took place across the Philippines between 2016 and 2018, the prosecution said.
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