International Criminal Court (ICC) defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman dismissed as “fictional” reports that the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, calling the claim “a figment of Ombudsman Remulla’s fertile imagination.”
Kaufman, who served as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s lead counsel in his crimes against humanity case at the ICC, made the statement following Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla’s claim that a warrant had been issued in connection with the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.
“There is nothing to suggest that the supposed arrest warrant for Senator dela Rosa is anything other than a figment of Ombudsman Remulla’s fertile imagination,” Kaufman said.
He added that it “goes against all common sense and prosecutorial logic for the ICC to issue further warrants in the context of the Philippines investigation until the issue of its ability to exercise jurisdiction over the so-called war on drugs has been finally resolved on appeal.”
The ICC’s public docket and press office have not released any new filings or announcements regarding additional charges or warrants related to the Philippine situation.
Both Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that there was no confirmation that the ICC had issued an arrest warrant against dela Rosa.
The ICC’s probe into the Philippines focuses on alleged crimes against humanity during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs from 2016 to 2019. The Philippine government withdrew from the ICC in 2019, a move that has since raised a jurisdictional dispute.
Dela Rosa, who served as Philippine National Police chief during the early years of the campaign, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the operations were lawful.
