Joel Butuyan, ICC-Accredited Lawyer, Speaks on Jurisdictional Argument of Duterte’s Camp
ICC-accredited lawyer Joel Butuyan claims that the arguments of former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman, have “little weight”.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is detained in the Hague Penitentiary Institution for more than a week now. He was arrested last March 11 and was sent to the Netherlands via Dubai on the same day. His daughter, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, immediately left the Philippines to show support to her father’s ICC trial.
According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, former Pres. Duterte wants her to immediately return to the Philippines. She is the only one among their family members with a Schengen Visa on the time that FPRRD was arrested and she’s the only lawyer in their family aside from her father. According to her, she will set the legal team of the former President before returning to the country.
Duterte’s common-law wife, Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña, and their daughter, Kitty Duterte, are also in The Hague now. They arrived a few days prior to the 80th birthday of the former President last March 28. Countless Duterte supporters gathered in the different parts of the country to celebrate the birthday of the former President.
Many overseas Filipino workers also gathered to show their support for former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. However, former Pres. Duterte requested his supporters to leave the matters to the lawyers and the Court. His message was relayed by Vice Pres. Duterte to the OFWs in The Hague.
The legal team of former Pres. Duterte is led by British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman. Recently, Duterte’s lead counsel expressed his confidence on their jurisdictional argument. According to him, he will be disappointed if it will not succeed.
Kaufman further expressed that if he will be able to convince the judges that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, there might be no need to proceed to the trial. The confirmation of charges is set on September 23.
However, according to ICC-accredit lawyer Joel Butuyan, the jurisdictional argument of Duterte’s lead counsel has “little weight”. Based on a report on Inquirer, he also stressed that the arrest of the former President went through a legal process contrary to his camp’s claim.
“With all due respect, Mr. Kaufman is not raising ‘compelling’ arguments, but rehashed arguments which have been found to have little weight,” the ICC-accredited lawyer said.
Atty. Butuyan stressed that there was a valid arrest warrant issued against Duterte “after more than seven years of preliminary examination and investigation”. Based on the report, he also expressed that the former President was read his Miranda rights.
After receiving the documents containing the items of evidence against FPRRD, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte questioned the names of the 30,000 alleged victims of the drug war. The ICC clarified that even ‘one killing may be considered a crime against humanity’.