General Admission

Global court leaning on lame logic?

By Al S. Mendoza  

ISN’T it funny?

Lawyer Jude Josue Sabio was told he could not withdraw his complaint against President Duterte filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) last year.

I don’t know what kind of law the ICC uses to act that way.

Whatever it is, don’t you think it’s some sort of a Mickey Mouse thing?

A joke?

When did it ever happen in our jurisprudence that a withdrawn case got rejected by any court of law?

A mere recantation of a confession is accepted at face value.

Anyway, let’s continue with Sabio’s case at the ICC.

In his sworn statement this week—on January 14 to be exact—sent to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Sabio said in his 77-page communication that his case should be “set side and ‘thrashed’ for being just a part of the political propaganda” of Mr. Duterte’s detractors led by the Liberal Party (LP).

He lambasted what he called the “pittance” fee given him by the President’s critics for his services.

Quickly, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo pounced on this.

Panelo said the ICC “should see to it” that it is also being used by Palace foes to bring down the President.

The feisty Panelo also insisted that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines or Mr. Duterte, even mocking the opposition led by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

He said the ICC must “wake up from its stupor if not ignorance.”

In a statement, Panelo said:  “It (ICC) should realize by now that it is being used by disgruntled and discredited persons to advance their goal of besmirching the reputation of PRRD and achieving their impossible dream of bringing down the Duterte presidency.”

Bensouda said the complaint filed by Sabio “cannot be withdrawn” because the OTP (Office of the Prosecutor) had “an obligation to register whatever it receives.”

What a lame logic.

Isn’t Bensouda, in essence, guilty of forcing through—if it were a basketball game?

She said she would decide “within the year” whether it would pursue the case against the President and his subordinates.

What is there to pursue for Bensouda?

As Panelo succinctly put it:  “It (ICC) should recognize the unalterable fact that it has no jurisdiction over the President, and for that matter, the Philippines,” citing that the Rome Statute that created the ICC was not published in the Philippines so “it could not be enforced here.”

Continuing, Panelo said: “Sabio’s complaint was orchestrated by Trillanes and was part of the vilification campaign relentlessly pursued by the incorrigible detractors as well as the political opposition totally repudiated by the electorate.”

So there. Very plain to see that the Sabio case was but a simple issue of political power play.

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