Former President Rodrigo Duterte has given instructions to his legal team but remains firm in his decision not to replace his counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, despite successive loses in appeals related to his case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
According to his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president directed his lawyer on certain matters though she declined to disclose the details.
“Tinanong ko si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Sabi ko, exactly kung ano ‘yung tanong ninyo: gusto mo ba palitan at hindi ka pa satisfied? Sabi niya, hindi palitan (I asked former President Duterte. I asked him exactly what you were asking: do you want a replacement for Kaufman because you aren’t satisfied? He said, ‘no’),” the Vice President said in an interview in The Hague on Jan. 28.
“Pero meron siyang mga instructions na ibinigay sa legal team. Hindi ko nasabi kung ano ‘yung mga instructions sa legal team. Hindi ko na rin sasabihin kung ano ‘yung mga instructions dahil hindi na rin naman iyon mahalaga,” she added.
Prior to this, the Vice President said she had considered asking her father about possibly replacing Kaufman after ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected his camp’s request to indefinitely adjourn the proceedings, citing Duterte’s alleged medical unfitness to participate.
The former president’s camp has been suffering several blows to their case after successive rejections in their appeals. The most significant of which was ICC’s Appeals Chamber, which unanimously confirmed the decision rejecting the request for his interim release, ruling once again that his detention remains necessary.
The Chamber’s decision upheld the Pre-Trial Chamber I’s earlier findings on flight risk, witness interference, and the danger of renewed violence.
ICC likewise rejected the defense for an additional expert report, ruling that further medical evidence was neither necessary nor appropriate at that stage. (Joseph Pedrajas)
