'Move Aquino case to ICC since Morales won't prosecute him', says int'l law expert

Late Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago 's sister Atty Paula Defensor-Knack, an expert of international criminal law in her Facebook page shared an article about Miriam saying that President Benigno III should be tried in the International Criminal Court, and said that a follow-up can be done for the case.

"This can be filed before the ICC because Morales refuses to charge Aquino despite overwhelming evidence that he was there and he gave orders that lead to the massacre," she said.



Before the death of Miriam,  she said that Aquino may be charged before the ICC for the death of the 44 members of the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police.

"Well, anyone who thinks that President Aquino should assume command responsibility as commander in chief of the military and the armed forces of the Philippines, may file a complaint in the International Criminal Court, ” Santiago said at a press conference in the Senate.

Santiago claimed that the ICC is moving for the investigation of the case yet the prosecution will determine first “whether all the elements are necessary to sue him formally before the court.”

According to Santiago, under the principle pf command-responsibility, the person who ordered the soldiers to be present in the are of combat is "equally responsible" with ordinary soldiers.

She also said that under Philippine law, military officials involved in the massacre will be tried in the court martial while the civilians involved will be prosecuted under the Penal Code.



Santiago also mentioned that after Aquino spoke about the incident, she had more questions than answers.

“Sa ngayon, hindi natin mababalewala na pagkatapos ng talumapti ng Pangulo sa television, maraming pagtatanong ang lumitaw. Sa halip na masagot ang pagtatanong, mas marami pang lumitaw (na katanungan). It raised more questions than answers,” Santiago said.

“For example, what was the direct line of command between the President and the operator? It’s not clear whether he just approved of the operation at the very start and then let it have its own life or while he approved of this particular operation. And if so, whose advice was he taking and what precautions were taken to protect the life of each of these almost uniformly very young policemen?" she added.

SOURCE: Philippine Daily Inquirer, Atty. Paula Defensor Knack

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