Malacañang criticized Attorney Nicholas Kaufman, lead counsel of former President Rodrigo Duterte, for allegedly “twisting facts” in relation to the detained leader’s request for interim release from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro issued the statement after Kaufman filed a pleading before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I suggesting that the Philippine government appeared open to Duterte’s temporary liberty while on trial for crimes against humanity linked to his war on drugs.
Kaufman cited remarks made by Castro in a recent press briefing, where she also mentioned that Vice President Sara Duterte’s foreign trips were “bearing fruit.”
“Atty. Kaufman appears to have mastered the art of twisting some facts. He had done this before when he asserted that the ICC prosecutor had no objection to former President Duterte’s request for an interim release. However, after the ICC prosecutor filed an opposition, it was revealed to be his false allegations,” she said.
She stressed that the Marcos administration has no role in Duterte’s ICC trial or his petition for interim release.
“We want to be clear that the government is not privy to, and has no hand in, the former president’s ongoing trial before the ICC. However, as part of the legal process, whatever the ICC decides, we will still respect it,” she added.
In his latest filing, Kaufman told the tribunal that “the possibility of an interim release is now contemplated without objection by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, which surrendered Mr. Duterte to the International Criminal Court.”
He said Duterte had instructed him “to do all possible to ensure his interim release.”
Duterte’s legal team has argued that the 80-year-old former leader is not a flight risk and that his detention is unnecessary to preserve the integrity of the proceedings.
