Ex-marines’ affidavit dragging ICC a ‘deliberate intimidation’ – deputy prosecutor

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) denied the allegation that their investigation in the Philippines was funded by Philippine politicians, and said that photos outing supposed ICC personnel were an act of deliberate intimidation.

“That was certainly deliberately done to intimidate us because I think that normally, our missions…shouldn’t be in the open public and that’s something that shouldn’t be done,” Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told Rappler in a one-on-one interview right after the pre-trial hearings against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte finished on Friday, February 27.

An affidavit from former marine officers circulated in the Philippines on Day 2 of the pre-trial proceedings, alleging, among others, that they made cash deliveries to former senator Antonio Trillanes IV partly to fund the ICC investigation.

The officers claimed they were asked to be security escorts to the ICC personnel. They identified the supposed ICC team members by name, and included one photo of a woman who is supposedly Chantal Daniels, the Office of the Prosecution’s (OTP) international cooperation adviser.

Trillanes has denied “receiving any amount…for the ICC investigation or any other purpose.”

“I think that you shouldn’t believe any of those kind of things. I think that, you know, the Office of the Prosecution functions through the resources allocated to it by the member state,” said Niang.

“Those are the only resources we use, either through the regular budget or the extra budgetary fund, which is also properly documented,” Niang added.

News of the affidavit surfaced when Filipinos in The Hague were sleeping. It was the talk in the ICC lobby the next morning, before the hearings begin.. The OTP then responded in general terms to reporters, saying all their investigations are funded by the court.

‘Silent partner’?

During his presentation of evidence on Day 3, lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman said there is a recorded phone interview where a person “bragged about acting as President [Ferdinand] Marcos, Jr.’s silent partner for channeling witnesses to the ICC.”

According to Kaufman, this “silent partner” went on to say: “They cooperate through me since I don’t hold a position… but we are able to do it.”

Without confirming any of these details, Niang said the prosecution cooperates with many groups and people when they are conducting an investigation, be it a “private person, or even officials of any government including the Philippines.”

“We of course, in our cooperation, be it civil society organization, be it private person, or even member, you know, officials of any government including the Philippines. We can accept cooperation but even in so doing, we retain our independence even you know in terms of who we interview, whether the witnesses we have access to can be important for our case, that’s something we do independently,” said Niang.

Still, Niang said “we try and learn our lesson from that and just try to be more cautious as to next step, what we do, to make sure that also our investigator or our personnel is protected.” – Rappler.com