MANILA, Philippines- Gumugulong na ang imbestigasyon laban sa iba pang personalidad na sangkot sa kasong mes against humanity laban kay dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa cInternational Criminal Court, ayon sa tagapagsalita nito.
“The ICC prosecutor and his office are continuing to investigate and if they have sufficient evidence, they will present it to the judges, and the judges will decide whether to issue…arrest warrants,” pahayag ni court spokesman Fadi El Abdallah.
“Investigations are ongoing and confidentiality is a key element to ensure the success of the investigation so we cannot give more details on that,” aniya sa isang panayam nitong Martes.
Bagama’t walang binaggit na pangalan si Abdallah, nauna nang sinabi ni Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, dating police chief at drug war enforcer, na inaasahan na niyang siya ang sunod na aarestuhin ng ICC.
Iginiit ni Dela Rosa na gagamitin niya lahat ng legal remedies upang makaiwas sa pagkakahuli.
Batay sa aplikasyon ng ICC chief prosecutor para sa kanyang pag-aresto, ang mga krimen umano ni Duterte ay “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population” sa Pilipinas.
“Potentially tens of thousands of killings were perpetrated,” alegasyon ng prosecutor sa nasabing kampanya laban sa ilegal na droga.
Nahaharap ang dating Pangulo sa anim na buwang paghihintay sa loob ng Scheveningen prison ng United Nations bago ang sunod na court appearance sa September 23.
“We are moving to another phase, which is the phase of confirmation of charges. For that, the judges need to verify the accusations against a higher threshold because they need to check if there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is responsible for such illegal conducts,” pahayag ni Abdallah.
“That would be done by listening to the prosecutor…but also to the defense counter-argumentation,” dagdag niya. “There is also a possibility for the victims to present through a legal representative…their observations, their personal stories.”
Inilahad ni chief ICC prosecutor Karim Khan ang 181 unspecified items of evidence sa defense, sa pangunguna ni British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman.
Sinabi ni Duterte na “everything I did, I did for my country,” base sa kanyang anak na si Vice President Sara Duterte noong Biyernes. RNT/SA
