Fatou Bensouda, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, speaks during a presser at the Ministry of Justice in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 2, 2021. ( AFP / ASHRAF SHAZLY)

Posts falsely claim Philippine official threatened ex-ICC prosecutor with jail over Duterte drug war probe

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 29, 2021 at 05:44
Updated on June 30, 2021 at 11:31
2 min read
By AFP Philippines

A video has been shared in multiple social media posts that claim it shows a Philippine official threatening a former International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor with jail after she sought an investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. The claim is false: the video shows a media briefing in which the official did not threaten the former prosecutor with jail. His office also told AFP he has made no such statement.

The 12-minute video clip was posted here on YouTube on June 16, 2021. It has been viewed more than 150,000 times.

The video's Tagalog-language caption translates to English as: “JUST IN: It's CONFIRMED that ICC Prosecutor Bensouda WILL BE JAILED because of her false accusation against Pres. Duterte!”

The video's thumbnail shows former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque.

The text overlaid on the thumbnail states in part: “[Secretary] Roque guaranteed that ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will be jailed.”

Screenshot of misleading video taken on June 24, 2021

The video circulated online after Bensouda requested the ICC to open an investigation into Duterte's war on drugs before she stepped down on June 15, 2021.

Police are alleged to have unlawfully killed thousands of civilians between 2016 and 2019 in the government's drugs crackdown.

Identical videos were shared alongside a similar claim on YouTube here; Facebook here; and Reddit here.

The claim is false.

No threat

Keyword searches show the video was taken from this footage of Roque at a media briefing on June 15, 2021.

The misleading video clip corresponds with the briefing from its 20-minute and 44-second mark to the 30-minute and 35-second mark. It was streamed live by Philippine state broadcaster PTV.

A review of the footage and the briefing’s transcript shows Roque did not threaten Bensouda with prison.

The spokesman instead said that Duterte will not cooperate in any ICC investigation until his term ends in 2022. His remarks were reported by AFP here.

In response to the misleading posts, a representative for Roque's office told AFP on June 30, 2021: “[Secretary Roque] has not claimed that the prosecutor will be jailed.”

Philippine media outlets Rappler, Inquirer.net and ABS-CBN News also did not report Roque had threatened Bensouda with jail.

As of June 30, 2021, there were no credible reports that indicate Roque made any such statement publicly.

The misleading post was also debunked by Philippine fact-checking organisations Vera Files and Rappler.

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