ICC case mere propaganda, says Sabio
Credit to Author: Divina Nova Joy Dela Cruz| Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:03:43 +0000
The International Criminal Court (ICC) case against President Rodrigo Duterte should not continue since it was simply propaganda, the lawyer who first filed and has recently withdrawn the complaint said.
Jude Josue Sabio sent the withdrawal of communication of his 2017 complaint of “crimes against humanity” before the ICC against the President.
Sabio said he had withdrawn the complaint because he did not approve of the move of former senator Antonio Trillanes 4th and other Liberal Party members to besmirch the honor of the President.
He added that in the preliminary examination, the principle that justice is paramount had been “destroyed” because of the propaganda by the group behind the case.
“How can you satisfy the interest of justice if your interest is politics, if your interest is propaganda? In other words, what I’m implying is that that case should not be…should not continue for investigation at the preliminary examination stage. That case should be thrown out into the garbage can,” he said in a forum on Friday.
Last Thursday, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go branded the allegations made against the Duterte’s war on illegal drugs as mere political trick.
He said the government had identified the people behind the allegations, adding that they only want to undermine the progress made by the administration’s war on drugs.
“Since day one of this administration, critics have been wasting their time and resources to destabilize the government,” Go said in a statement.
“They want to put dirt on the Duterte administration and have it painted black so they will become white. That’s their style of politics: dirty player, all lies, using their black propaganda,” he added.
The senator said he too was “a victim of these lies — the most recent of which was the ‘Bikoy’ video series. The same pattern, the same conspirators, the same rotten agenda, ending with the same result.”
Go said the ICC must be wary of opportunists “trying to take advantage of the court for their own personal interests instead of fighting for the greater good. What’s worse, these opportunists are taking advantage of the vulnerabilities of fellow Filipinos.”
With a reports from JAVIER JOE ISMAEL