Palace calls as sham Duterte’s trial before a “global court”

September 18, 2018

Malacanang called on Tuesday as a "sham" the supposed trial by a Brussels-based "global court" against President Rodrigo Duterte for his alleged human rights violations.

According to leftist groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and Karapatan, a certain Sultan Hamidullah Atar of Marawi and other witnesses would testify against the Duterte administration before the International People’s Tribunal from September 18 to 19.

Asked about his reaction on the supposed testimonies of Atar and others, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press briefing, said, "Nothing. Because that’s not an official proceeding; that’s a propaganda proceedings by the left."

He said he did not even know the supposed Sultan.

"That's a sham proceeding because it's not an official proceeding. It's for propaganda purposes," Roque stressed.

The leftist organizations have admitted that the verdict in the IPT would not be legally binding.

However, they said the IPT's decision would be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Council as a case against the US-Duterte regime.

Duterte has pending complaints before the ICC for alleged crimes against humanity due to his bloody war on illegal drugs.

The IPT is a "global court" convened by the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, IBON International, and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.

According to IPT, the jurors came from Egypt, US, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Iran, Italy, France, and Japan. Celerina Monte/DMS