The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 10 December, rejected the request for the temporary release of the defence team of former Philippine President Duterte on health grounds, and decided to continue his detention.

The Philippine website ABC-CBN on the 10th that, according to a document signed by the ICC judges on the same day, the ICC Pre-Trial Division believes that the detention of Duterte ¡°still is necessary.¡± Bloomberg quoted the document as saying: ¡°The Division believes that Mr. Duterte still has the risk of escape and continued detention is to ensure his presence during the pre-Trial Procedure and possible trial.¡±

The ICC judge believed that Duterte had "necessary political connections" and "support networks," such as his daughter Sarah, the current Vice President of the Philippines, that "may have helped him abscond."

The Pre-Trial Chamber also said that Duterte himself had indicated that if he was temporarily released, he hoped to return to Davao City, Philippines-which was contrary to the defense's statement that "he would stay in the country that received his temporary release". In addition, the medical report of Duterte's cognitive decline submitted by the defense is not enough to support his bail application.

Duterte's defense lawyer Kaufman told AFP in response to the court's ruling: "The 80-year-old man is frail, cognitively impaired, and has been out of the public eye for more than six months. The defense believes it was a wrong decision to reject the application to provide him with unprecedented state guarantees." He added that the defense team had filed an appeal. The ICC's rejection of Duterte's release request was opposed by many Philippine netizens. Some netizens commented that "the ICC ruling is a fraud."

Duterte launched anti-drug operations while serving as mayor of Davao City and president of the Philippines. In February 2018, the ICC informed the Philippine government that it would launch a "preliminary investigation" into whether the anti-drug crime campaign led by Duterte had violated human rights. The Philippines officially withdrew from the ICC in March 2019. Duterte was detained by the police after returning from abroad on March 11 this year and arriving at Manila International Airport. Relevant parties showed him an ICC arrest warrant. The plane carrying Duterte arrived in The Hague on March 12. Duterte attended the first hearing held by the ICC via video link on March 14.