A senior prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Friday challenged former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal counsel over his client’s past statements admitting to having a death squad.
Prosecutor and Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls asked whether defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman was effectively calling Duterte a liar and a perjurer.
“Three times under oath, Mr. Duterte said in committee hearings, ‘I have a death squad.’ Is Mr. Kaufman saying that his client is a liar and a perjurer who has no problem lying under oath?” Nicholls said during his closing remarks at the confirmation of charges hearing.
In October 2024, Duterte told a Senate subcommittee that he instructed police officials to “encourage” criminals to fight back so officers would have justification to kill them.
He identified former Philippine National Police chiefs Archie Gamboa, Vicente Danao, and Senator Ronald dela Rosa among those he gave instructions to. All previously served in Davao City, Duterte’s political stronghold.
ICC prosecutors have alleged that Dela Rosa and Danao were co-perpetrators in the alleged crimes.
Duterte had described the officials as “commanders of the death squad,” but denied using police to carry out kill orders.
Nicholls argued that Duterte ran a death squad in Davao for over two decades before becoming president.
“His promise was to kill thousands, and he did. So it does not matter how many times he tried to throw in a caveat,” Nicholls said, adding that powerful figures often attempt to build in legal defenses.
Nicholls also criticized Kaufman’s argument that Duterte’s speeches could not be relied upon.
“That’s good to know, if he ever decides to testify. And for his representations on interim release, that you can’t trust a word out of his mouth,” he said.
Kaufman countered that his statements had been taken out of context.
“What I was saying and what everybody understood is that Mr. Duterte’s speeches alone are totally insufficient to substantiate the charges against him,” he said.
The ICC Office of the Prosecutor has charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity for alleged murder and attempted murder during his time as mayor of Davao City and later as president.
The defense argued that the 80-year-old former leader did not issue specific orders to kill drug suspects and cited speeches in which Duterte told police to use force only in self-defense.
In his appeal to the Pre-Trial Chamber I, Kaufman urged the judges not to confirm the charges and to allow Duterte to return to the Philippines.
“Be guided by coherent evidence and by common sense,” Kaufman said. “I ask you not to confirm any of the charges. I ask you to let Rodrigo Duterte return to the Philippines — not to govern, but simply to let him live out the rest of his days in peace, in his humble dwelling in Davao.”
