ICC not keen on breaks during Duterte’s trial

MANILA, Philippines — The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chamber III on Wednesday said it is not keen on implementing breaks during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s trial.

During the court’s third status conference, Presiding Judge Joanna Korner maintained that the tribunal intends to sit through the trial from Nov. 30 until the Christmas break before resuming in January.

READ: ICC tells prosecution to trim witnesses in Duterte case

“Therefore we are not intending, because it is important that this trial goes forward as quickly as possible, to do those types of breaks just so everybody’s aware,” Korner said.

She then said the chamber would hear submissions from the parties to the case on the matter during the next status conference.

Duterte’s trial is set to start on Nov. 30 as he faces three counts of crimes against humanity over his administration’s bloody war on drugs.

READ: Duterte finally appears in person before ICC

The campaign killed at least 6,000 people based on government records and more than 30,000 based on human rights records, including children as young as 3 years old. /mcm