Fabricated pro-Duterte statement of purported ICC prosecutor misleads online

"A new ICC deputy Prosecutor who is Judge Ambawtukahm mandiaye Niang was the one assigned to replace Karim Khan. According to reports, Judge Ambawtukahm promised to help former president Rodrigo Duterte in his trial at the ICC," reads part of a Tagalog-language Facebook post labelled as "breaking news", which was shared on December 12.

The post appears to refer to Mame Mandiaye Niang -- the ICC deputy prosecutor currently overseeing the case against Duterte -- after chief prosecutor Karim Khan stepped aside in May during an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct (archived here, here and here).

It includes a picture of a man donning a judicial robe and a quote attributed to Niang that says: "In accordance with Rule 34, I am committed to supporting former President Rodrigo Duterte in his pursuit of the truth and ensuring a fair examination of the facts regarding his innocence."

It also contains a link that directs users to a page of the e-commerce platform Lazada (archived link). 

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 17 with a red X added by AFP

The ICC rejected a request on November 28 from the former president to be released from detention ahead of his trial on crimes against humanity during his war on drugs (archived link). 

Presiding judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza told a hearing that lawyers for the 80-year-old had not laid out strong enough precautions to warrant a temporary release from custody in The Hague, where the court is based.   

Duterte's lawyers, appealing against an earlier refusal, had called for a "humanitarian parole" because of the state of his health. 

Similar claims spread elsewhere on Facebook with some of them containing a link directing users to another e-commerce platform Shopee (archived link).  

The posts were also shared on Instagram and TikTok.  

But the ICC said no such statement was issued and the claim originated from a satirical post. 

'Post is false'

The Public Information Unit of the Office of the Prosecutor told AFP in an email on December 16 that the post's claim is false, and that Niang has not issued any statement in relation to the case.

The ICC official website also does not list any "Ambawtukahm mandiaye Niang" under the Office of the Prosecutor (archived link).  

The image of the man in the false post also does not resemble Niang. 

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Screenshot comparison of the false post (L) and the profile of ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang

Subsequent keyword searches led to a post shared on December 11 by the Facebook page Daily Supporter Daily News, with overlaid text that says "SATIRE". The post has since been taken down.

In the false post, the overlaid "SATIRE" text was removed.

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Screenshot of post with the overlaid text 'satire' highlighted by AFP

Shopee told AFP on December 19 that they have "banned the user from the program on the grounds of using links for clickbait posts". 

AFP also reached out to Lazada for comment, but there was no response forthcoming.

AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to Duterte's case at the ICC.