‘Trolling, attacks may lead to additional charges in ICC’

MANILA, Philippines —  Additional charges may be filed before the International Criminal Court (ICC) if online trolling and attacks against victims and other parties involved in the case can be traced back to the camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte, according to one of the lawyers representing the drug war victims.

“We can tell the court that there are attacks, etc. One, as a manifestation. Second, as a possible additional… offenses against the administration of justice,” ICC Assistant to Counsel Kristina Conti said in an interview with The STAR’s online show “Truth on the Line.”

“But I would say that the standards are high… Intimidation of witnesses, attacks on the court. Generally anything that will hinder the administration of justice for the court to do its work, or if you ask the court to not do its work or to do its work improperly and so forth,” she added.

Fake news peddlers intensified their activities last week following Duterte’s arrest and subsequent surrender to the ICC.

Aside from false information about the arrest, disinformation narratives specifically targeted the victims, their lawyers and even the ICC and its judges.

Reports also surfaced of hate speech directed at some relatives of the victims.

Conti, who has also been a target of online trolling, said such harassment reinforces the argument that the ICC should handle the case rather than a local court in the Philippines.

It may also be seen as a reason not to grant any request for interim release of the former president and ultimately his conviction, she added.

“This means that there are those who believe this narrative that addicts have to be killed,” she said in Filipino in a post on Facebook.

During the interview, Conti admitted that proving an offense against the administration of justice is a high bar to clear.

In other cases, she explained, this standard has involved outright physical attacks against witnesses.

“But again, that’s just the maximum (possibility). The minimum is we manifest to the court these kinds of attacks. Or if not the court, to the prosecutor,” she said.

Monitoring

Conti said they have already received offers of assistance in closely monitoring and documenting these attacks.

Aside from taking screenshots, she recommended that those documenting the incidents save the URLs or links to the posts and gather details about the accounts that posted them.

Aside from filing an additional case before the ICC, she said they may also consider pursuing a domestic case or seeking assistance from the Philippine government. However, their priority remains the welfare of the victims and their families.

“These kinds of attacks are difficult on the part of the victims because that’s re-victimization… What we are looking at from a more general or non-legal perspective is how the attacks will encourage or discourage victims to come forward,” she said.

“It’s not as if this will make or break the case, because for all we know, the prosecutor is trial ready. But that is a major disenfranchisement (for the victims)… It is their right to participate,” she added.

Regarding the protests initiated by Duterte’s supporters, Conti maintained that she respects their right to express their views “as long as they do not resort to violence.”

She expressed willingness to engage with them, but appealed to them to “try to uplift the discussion.”

“Don’t drag us to the muck, to the canal by degrading each person’s identity,” she said in Filipino, citing coordinated online attacks against her that focused on her personal appearance.

“Let’s elevate the level of discussion… It’s difficult to have a genuine conversation if there is no meaningful discourse,” she added.

Related video: