The 80-year-old stands accused of crimes against humanity over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed thousands.
In a filing posted to the court’s website late on Thursday, defence lawyers said the involved country – the name of which was redacted – had expressed its “principled agreement to receive Mr Duterte onto its territory”.
ICC prosecutors have agreed not to oppose the request, according to the filing, which said discussions about an interim release had been under way since Duterte’s first court appearance at The Hague on March 14.
An annex spelling out the conditions for Duterte’s release was not publicly available, but the defence team’s filing noted that the octogenarian posed no flight risk and cited humanitarian concerns around his age.
Lawyers representing relatives of those killed in Duterte’s drug war condemned the application for release, citing threats made against victims’ families and saying they had legal avenues to oppose it.
Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11, flown to the Netherlands that same night and has been held at the ICC’s detention unit at Scheveningen Prison since. (AFP)
