Former Presidential Spox Harry Roque Reacts To Claims of Duterte’s ICC Lawyer
HARRY ROQUE – The former Spokesman denied that he is meddling with the case of former President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and stressed his continued support to his legal team.
The family members of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte are taking turns in visiting him inside the ICC detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands. The former President is detained abroad since March following his arrest by the Philippine authorities who provided assistance to the Interpol.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s camp sought for his interim release from the ICC detention facility but also recently asked the court to delay hold off from deciding over the application. According to his lawyers, they still await some documents that would support their bid for the interim release of the former President.
With regards to the ICC interim release bid of her father, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte previously claimed that not all the needs of the 80-year-old former President may be provided inside the ICC detention facility. According to her, the former President can be called a “super senior” citizen and he may taken cared of better if there would be a nurse or caregiver for him.
The Vice President also confirmed the claim of her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, that former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is “skin and bones” now. According to his family, the former Chief Executive loss appetite on food. His ex-wife claimed that he spends most of his time sleeping or watching television.
Aside from the Duterte family members, some Duterte allies were also spotted in The Hague, Netherlands in support of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. One of them is Duterte’s former spokesman, Harry Roque, who currently has a pending arrest warrant issued by a local court in the Philippines.
However, recently, the lawyer of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte claimed that his client wants Harry Roque to stop meddling in his ICC case and to return to the Philippines. Atty. Nicholas Kaufman also claimed that a Dutch lawyer allegedly confirmed to him that Roque reached out to him in his pursuit to sue the Dutch government over the former President’s arrest.
Based on a report on Inquirer, Harry Roque denied interfering in the ICC case of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. He also denied giving statements that could affect the strategy of the legal team of his former boss and reiterated his continue support to Duterte’s defense team.
“My support to the Duterte Legal Defense continues. There is no truth that I have interfered in the case or that I have given statements that might affect the Defense legal strategy in the ICC,” Roque said.
According to Harry Roque, his only intention is to help bring former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte back to the Philippines. He admitted to offering “an additional legal remedy, outside of the ICC, subject to the approval of the former President and his family”. Based on the report, he also cited that Vice Pres. Sara Duterte acknowledged discussing domestic legal remedies with him over her father’s case.
“I have deferred to VP’s decision to hold the domestic legal remedy in abeyance pending the outcome of the interim release,” Duterte’s former spokesman said.
Previously, amid the people seeing a strong allegiance between Vice Pres. Duterte and the presidential sister, Harry Roque challenged Sen. Imee Marcos to prove her loyalty to the Duterte family,