Common cause: Duterte supporters attending a protest in Helsinki, Finland. — AP
A lawyer for Rodrigo Duterte who has been speaking for the family since the former Philippine president’s shock arrest and transfer to The Hague has announced plans to file for asylum in the Netherlands.
Harry Roque, who served two stints as Duterte’s presidential spokesman, left the Philippines in September after being cited for contempt for refusing to attend hearings into offshore gambling sites used as fronts for criminal activities.
He re-emerged at Duterte’s side last week after the ex-president was flown to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face a crimes against humanity charge tied to his bloody crackdown on drugs in which thousands were killed.
“I’m filing formally for asylum here in the Netherlands,” Roque told a Facebook live press briefing on Monday.
“I am confident that I can prove political persecution through unjust prosecution,” he said, referencing an arrest warrant issued by a congressional committee.
Roque, one of five Philippine lawyers currently on the ICC’s “list of counsel” able to represent defendants at the tribunal, has said he expects to be part of the former president’s defence team.
That work would also prevent him from returning home, he told reporters.
“I cannot come home. I have to defend my president as a member of the list counsel of the ICC at the Hague,” he said, while declining to answer if he might return when the case concludes.
Presidential palace spokesperson Claire Castro said yesterday that Roque’s asylum bid would have “no effect on the cases he is facing”.
“How can there be political persecution if all the pieces of evidence are overwhelming?” she asked, citing documents allegedly tying him to the now-banned gambling sites.
Roque’s briefing follows Vice-President Sara Duterte announcing that Nicholas Kaufman, a veteran international lawyer, had been added to her father’s legal team.
Kaufman has previously represented clients at The Hague including former Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba and Aisha Kadhafi, daughter of the deceased Libyan dictator.
While the Duterte camp has referred to him as lead counsel, Kaufman said on Monday that his role had “yet to be precisely determined”. — AFP
