Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel for former President Rodrigo Duterte, has called on the Marcos administration to allow the ex-chief executive to return to the Philippines, citing the severe impact of his detention in The Hague on his health.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sept. 9, shortly after the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber I announced the postponement of Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing originally scheduled for Sept. 23, Kaufman emphasized the urgency of the situation.
“The hearing on the confirmation of charges has been postponed, and the reason for this has been disclosed by the judges,” Kaufman said, pointing to Duterte’s declining medical condition as a key factor.
“Ever since his precipitous and traumatic rendition, the Defence has been struggling with the former President’s progressively deteriorating medical situation which has affected his ability to assimilate the evidence and to give his lawyers proper instructions,” he explained.
He argued that “out of respect” to Duterte’s legacy, he would not have raised a plea for an indefinite adjournment of his hearing if their claims were not supported by “leading medical experts,” including independent medical professionals.
Kaufman said that while the former president is in “good spirits,” his age and his detention in the ICC facility “have taken their toll on him.”
“The Defence sincerely hopes that the current administration, which sought fit to outsource its obligation to afford the former President a fair trial in the country of his birth, will now let him return home to face whatever judicial process is necessary, if at all, with dignity,” he stressed.
On Monday, Sept. 8, the ICC’s pre-trial chamber announced the postponement of the Sept. 23 hearing. Of the three judges, Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera dissented.
The chamber cited the Aug. 18 filing by Duterte’s defense team requesting for an “indefinite adjournment” of the confirmation of charges because the former president “is not fit to stand trial.”
While it did not give a specific timeline, the Chamber said that it will “issue a scheduling order, including a specific date for and directions regarding the conduct of the hearing on the confirmation of charges, in due course.”
The Rise Up for Life and for Rights and National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), in a separate statement, have expressed the drug war victims’ dismay over the pre-trial chamber’s decision and vowed to “push for the resetting of the hearing soonest, and for any other available remedies.” (Raymund Antonio)
