The legal counsel of former President Rodrigo Duterte has denied allegations that his client was involved in the destruction of evidence related to the controversial war on drugs, following claims made by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
In an interview, international criminal lawyer Nicholas Kaufman reiterated that Duterte had “nothing to do” with the alleged tampering or disposal of evidence.
“What I do know is that my client, Mr. Duterte, had nothing to do with destroying any evidence. Destroying evidence is a criminal offense. It was not done, and it was not done at his request or on his behalf. Let me make that very clear,” Kaufman said in a video posted on the Alvin & Tourism Facebook page.
Kaufman also expressed skepticism over Remulla’s assertions, stating he does not believe the claims. However, he declined to comment on the specific evidence submitted by prosecutors before the International Criminal Court (ICC), where Duterte faces charges of crimes against humanity in connection with thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings during his administration.
“The former President did not destroy any evidence. No one on his behalf destroyed evidence. I’m not going to get into the argument as to who destroyed evidence, but destroying evidence is a criminal offense. My client did not commit criminal offenses,” the lawyer said.
Last week, Remulla claimed that the government decided not to pursue the drug case against the former president and allowed the ICC to take over because “everything that could be erased was erased so that the cases would not push through.”
But despite these claims, the ICC Prosecutor has disclosed an additional 1,062 pieces of evidence to be considered for Duterte’s case. The evidence that will be used in the former chief executive’s trial has reached more than 100,000 items, including written testimonials and video recordings.
The former president has been detained in The Hague, Netherlands since March 12, a day after he was arrested in the Philippines on March 11.
He will face the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I on Sept. 23 for the confirmation of charges. (Raymund Antonio)
