MANILA – There was a “compelling reason” to throw out the International Criminal Court (ICC) case against former President Rodrigo Duterte, his lead counsel said.
Atty. Nicholas Kaufman hopes to stop the case before the ICC confirms the charges against Duterte by arguing the court cannot exercise its jurisdiction.
Kaufman explained that the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC had become effective well before an investigation was authorized.
“Coming back to the jurisdictional point, obviously you don’t need to be the dean of a law faculty to realize that that’s going to be a huge issue at pre-trial,” Kaufman said in an interview with AFP.
“I think that the jurisdictional argument is compelling as defense counsel. I believe that it should succeed and I would be hugely disappointed if it doesn’t succeed,” he added.
“We hope to persuade the judges at pre-trial that it (the court) cannot exercise its jurisdiction over the case. There won’t be a confirmation-of-charges hearing if the judges rule in our favor,” Kaufman further said.
Duterte faces a charge of crimes against humanity for murder over his “war on drugs” that claimed the lives of thousands of mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
Kaufman said the issue of jurisdiction is key in this case as the Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019.
Kaufman said another likely critical issue for the defense will be Duterte’s arrest on March 11 and his rapid handover to the ICC in The Hague.
“I view it as a kidnapping, nothing more or less. It’s an extrajudicial rendition. He was given no due process, just slung over to The Hague,” Kaufman said. “This was in complete contravention of Philippines law.”
“He should have been brought before a judge before he was thrown onto a plane and dumped in The Hague. That didn’t happen. As I’ve said already, this is a political hit job,” he added.
“The politics in that country basically ended up in a situation where they needed to get him out of the picture. The incumbent government did not want him in the picture anymore,” he further said./PN
