(Eagle News) — The International Criminal Court will conduct a “preliminary investigation” into lawyer Jude Sabio’s allegations against the drug war.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said based on the information received by the Philippine mission in The Hague, the initial review of “alleged acts associated with the campaign against illegal drugs covering the period of July 2016” and which were contained in a communication submitted by Sabio in April 2017 will be conducted by the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor.
According to Roque, President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed the preliminary probe, noting that the chief executive was “sick and tired of being accused of the commission of crimes against humanity.”
“This is an opportunity for (Duterte) to prove that this is not subject to the court’s jurisdiction because of both complimentarity that domestic courts; and the fact that we have a domestic international humanitarian law statute in our jurisdiction are reasons enough for the court not to exercise jurisdiction,” Roque said.
“We view of course this decision of the prosecutor as the waste of the court’s time and resources,” Roque also noted.
Sabio, the lawyer for alleged hitman Edgar Matobato, accused Duterte of committing mass murder since he became mayor of Davao city.
He alleged “not less than 1,400 individuals in Davao City under (Duterte’s) Davao Death Squad and not less than 7,000 individuals in his war on drugs at the national level” have been killed as a result.
