The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court threw down former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal against his detention at the The Hague Penitentiary Institution. 

In a decision released on Friday, the chamber unanimously rejected Duterte’s motion to have his imprisonment reviewed, paving the way for his continued incarceration in the European city.

The decision remanding the former head of state was unequivocal, dismissing all of his arguments and rejecting his grounds of appeal “in its entirety".

Duterte’s lawyers asked for a reconsideration of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I’s January 2026 rejection of an earlier appeal for Duterte’s temporary release on various health and other grounds.

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But the higher ICC chamber upheld both decisions, saying the pre-trial chamber’s decisions were fair in respecting Duterte’s rights under its rules.

“[T]he Appeals Chamber considers that the Defence has failed to establish any error of the Pre-Trial Chamber with respect to the fairness of the proceedings. Therefore, the Appeals Chamber rejects the arguments of the Defence in this respect”

“[T]he Appeals Chamber rejects the Defence’s arguments concerning the principle of equality of arms, as well as Mr Duterte’s rights to a fair hearing and to a reasoned decision,” it added.

Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, and his family members claimed the former strongman — accused of ordering the killing of more than 30,000 Filipinos as Davao City mayor and Philippine president — has gotten frail and has a declining cognitive condition.

A battery of ICC-accredited doctors, however, testified that Duterte is physically and mentally fit to stand trial.

Last month, Duterte faced four days of confirmation of charges hearings at the ICC where he was accused of creating, funding, and arming death squads that carried out murders of purported drug users and dealers.

He is expected to undergo full trial as the first Asian head of state to be charged with crimes against humanity.

Duterte was arrested on March 11, 2025 in the Philippines and sent to the Hague where he had been languishing at the Scheveningen Prison. #

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