MANILA: Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defence team is preparing for his trial before the International Criminal Court, adding that Duterte’s acquittal would depend on the “evidentiary weaknesses” of the prosecution.
Duterte’s lead defence counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, made the remark in reaction to the Appeals Chamber’s decision asserting the ICC’s jurisdiction over the former president’s case.
“As a result of the same political inevitability, the Defence is preparing for a trial where it believes that the many evidentiary weaknesses identified at confirmation must ultimately lead to the former President’s acquittal and his return to the Philippines,” Kaufman told the Inquirer on Thursday (April 23) in a text message.
Kaufman preceded his sentiment saying: “From a political perspective, given the existential distress in which the Court and its embattled Chief Prosecutor find themselves, the Defence is not surprised by today’s appeal judgment on jurisdiction. Allowing the appeal would have practically emptied the Court’s docket.”
The lawyer was referencing the sexual miscoduct allegations against ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who was disqualified from Duterte’s case. According to conflicting reports, the core group of ICC state parties decided to proceed with disciplinary proceedings against Khan, despite being cleared of the allegations.
With the ICC’s jurisdiction over Duterte’s case reaffirmed, proceedings are set to continue, starting with the court’s decision on whether the prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to move the case to trial.
Duterte is facing crimes against humanity case before the foreign court in the Hague, Netherlands for the violence that ensued during the former president’s drug war while he was leading the country from 2016 to 2022, and when he was the mayor of Davao City from 2011 to 2016. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
