Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s camp submitted a series of petitions to delay hearings of his crimes against humanity before Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The most recent was a petition for an “urgent status conference” filed on June 17 to question the schedule of Duterte’s court appearance on September 23. The petition cited reasons of alleged “delays” or hindrances in the prosecution’s preparations.

The court had already rejected other “delaying tactics” used by Duterte’s lawyers. One of these was a petition to disqualify two judges handling his case. On July 3, the ICC plenary rejected their request to remove Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera and Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou from Pre-Trial Chamber I.

According to the ICC, Duterte’s camp had no basis to allege that the judges were biased because of their previous involvement in decisions related to the court’s jurisdiction over the case. The ICC clarified that the judges’ duties include revisiting legal issues as the case progresses, and that this does not mean they are biased.

Duterte’s lawyers filed two more petitions intended to stall the proceedings. The first questioned the court’s jurisdiction over Duterte because the Philippines is no longer an ICC member, and the second requested his interim release. The court has yet to issue a ruling on both petitions. In the case of interim release, the victims, their lawyers, and the ICC prosecution strongly opposed it.

Meanwhile, the case continues to move forward in court. On July 1, the prosecution submitted the 11th set of evidence against the former president, including more than 1,000 documents covering the killings committed from his time as mayor of Davao City up to his presidential term.