Statement of Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s Lawyer Nicholas Kaufman
RODRIGO DUTERTE’S LAWYER – Nicholas Kaufman hopes that the Marcos Jr. administration will allow his client to “return home” to the Philippines.
All four (4) Duterte siblings were recently in The Hague, Netherlands for a scheduled visit to their father, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. It seemed like a Duterte family reunion inside the detention facility of the ICC (International Criminal Court).
Prior to it, the Duterte family members are just taking turns in visiting the former President inside the ICC detention center. According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, it was really their father’s request for all four (4) of them to visit him together inside the ICC detention facility and he’s really happy about the visit.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is detained under the custody of the ICC for over five (5) months now. Supposedly, on September 23, he is set to attend the ICC hearing for the confirmation of charges. However, it was recently confirmed that the trial is moved to a still unannounced date.
Nicholas Kaufman, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer, said that his client is “not fit for trial”. Based on a report on GMA News, the British-Israeli Lawyer who is the lead counsel of the former President claimed that his client’s “progressively deteriorating medical situation” has affected his capacity to assimilate the evidence and to issue orders.
Recently, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer also expressed his hope for a “fair trial” for the former Chief Executive as well as for the Marcos Jr. administration to allow his client to return to the Philippines for his interim release until the end of all the legal process.
“The defense sincerely hopes that the current administration, which [saw] fit to outsource its obligation to afford the former president a fair trial in the country of his birth, will now let him return home, with dignity, for the purpose of interim release until the end of all legal proceedings,” former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer said.
Based on the report, the ICC has yet to issue a date on when will the confirmation of charges against the former President be held. It was only a last month when the lawyers of Duterte renewed their request for his ICC interim release to an undisclosed country.