THE DEFENSE team for former President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed concerns from the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution regarding the handling of confidential information, labeling the prosecution’s request as “unnecessary.”
The filing on March 26, authored by defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman, addressed a “peculiar” request for clarification from the prosecution concerning the role of certain individuals (whose names remain redacted) in the case.
In the document, Kaufman issued a series of formal “guarantees” to the Pre-Trial Chamber, asserting that the individuals in question have no access to the inner workings of the defense’s legal strategy.
Specifically, Kaufman confirmed that these individuals have not and will not receive any official disclosure in the case, do not have access to non-public filings, and are not entitled to legally privileged meetings or communications with Duterte inside the Detention Center.
Kaufman criticized what he described as an “implied suggestion” or “insinuation” by the prosecution that the defense might be violating Article 8 of the Code of Professional Conduct.
Kaufman rejected the “insinuation” of misconduct, reminding the senior trial lawyer for the prosecution not to believe everything he reads in the papers.”
Kaufman added a caveat to that advice: “…unless, of course, it relates to Mr. Duterte’s innocence.”
The case, officially titled The Prosecutor v. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, continues to move through the Pre-Trial stage at the ICC, with this latest exchange highlighting the increasingly friction-filled relationship between the prosecution and the former president’s legal representatives.
