The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has submitted a provisional list of witnesses it intends to present in the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The submission was confirmed in a filing dated June 29 and made public yesterday. The names of the potential witnesses remained confidential. “The prosecution has provided the pseudonym for each witness,” read the filing signed by ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang.
Niang told the trial judges that the prosecution will provide additional details, including the summary of the witnesses’ testimony, when it submits the final list on Aug. 31. The trial of the 81-year-old Duterte, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity, is expected to start on Nov. 30.
The prosecution may rely on evidence from 60 to 70 witnesses, including 31 insider witnesses, 17 crime-based witnesses and 12 others. It intends to call 25 to 30 witnesses to provide viva voce testimony. The rest will be presented under ICC’s Rule 68. The prosecution estimated that its direct examination of the witnesses could take 175 to 200 hours. The next status conference is scheduled on July 14.
