Defense counsel Atty. Nicholas Kaufman has criticized the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision confirming charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte, calling it “bizarre” and questioning the absence of cited evidence in the ruling.
“I find it rather bizarre and strange that having argued the intricate details of the evidence to try and show that there weren't substantial grounds to support these charges, that the chamber didn't find it necessary to cite any evidence,“ Kaufman said, speaking after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I (PTC) confirmed charges of crimes against humanity against Duterte on April 23.
Kaufman shared that Duterte himself questioned the basis of the accusations during their conversation following the ruling.
“He did ask me, you know, 'what’s the evidence? What’s the evidence to show that I actually committed these murders, which they say I committed?” Kaufman recounted.
Reviewing the chamber’s decision, Kaufman claimed he could not identify specific evidentiary references.
“I had a look through this decision, and I can’t even see one piece of evidence cited in the footnotes,” he said.
He added that the defense had argued extensively during the confirmation hearing, disputing the sufficiency of evidence for multiple incidents cited by the prosecution.
“We said why each one of those incidents should not be confirmed. But the Pre-Trial Chamber judges haven’t even cited one piece of evidence in their footnotes to justify their decision,” Kaufman said.
The lawyer also criticized portions of the ruling, particularly paragraphs he said suggested a “flexible approach” to the level of detail required in the charges, including timing, location, and identification of victims.
“The whole purpose of a confirmation hearing is to determine the exact nature of the charges so that the suspect knows what he has to defend at trial,” he said.
Despite his criticism, Kaufman acknowledged that the case is now proceeding to the trial stage, where the defense plans to challenge prosecution witnesses.
“My goodness, what are we facing at trial? Well, anyway, that's the decision. We go to trial now, we will make an inquest for an appeal. It's up to the same judges to decide whether or not we get that appeal,” he said.
Kaufman added, “But we have to be realistic and we're facing a trial.”
He said the case relies heavily on testimony from cooperating criminal witnesses, which the defense intends to rigorously test in court.
“We will be preparing our cross-examination of those witnesses. They will come to give their evidence if the prosecution can manage to find them and bring them and then we will, as I say, question them and show them to be the liars that they are,” he said.
Earlier, Kaufman said the legal team for Duterte would challenge the ruling of ICC PTC I that confirmed all of his crimes against humanity charges in an effort to block his path to a full-blown trial.
Kaufman also said the defense does not expect assistance from the Philippine government, adding that it has previously supported the prosecution.
“The federal government, headed by President Bongbong Marcos, is not going to help us in any way whatsoever,” the defense team said.
“It's been helping the prosecution right from before the time that the former president was surrendered to the court, but it's not going to help Mr. Duterte,” he emphasized.
