Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s ICC Lawyer, Speaks on Past Meeting w/ Imelda Marcos
Duterte’s ICC lawyer Nicholas Kaufman confirmed that he has served as a legal counsel of former First Lady Imelda Marcos several years ago.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is currently faced with an accusation of crimes against humanity over the drug war of his administration. He is detained under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands since March.
Despite his detention, Duterte maintained that everything he did during his term as president is for the Filipino people and his country. Previously, several senator allies of former Pres. Duterte filed a resolution seeking for his house arrest. His camp also applied for his ICC interim release bid.
British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman leads the ICC legal team of the former President. His camp recently asked the court to hold off in deciding over the interim release plea of the former President. According to Duterte’s ICC lawyer, they still await some documents and information to back his bid.
The members of the Duterte family are taking turns in visiting the former President inside the ICC detention facility. Previously, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that she has a renewed father-daughter relationship with the former President inside the ICC detention facility as they no longer discuss legal matters. According to her, legal matters are discussed between her father and his ICC lawyers.
Recently, Duterte’s ICC lawyer Nicholas Kaufman confirmed that one of the people he has served in the past was former First Lady Imelda Marcos. Based on a post on PhilStar, the British-Israeli lawyer also claimed that former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte knew about it.
According to Duterte’s ICC lawyer, former First Lady Imelda Marcos was his client 13 years ago and he has been to Manila to meet her. Based on the report, he stressed that the Duterte family was still not known in the political field then.
“The former president is fully aware of my former clients and also knows that my meeting with Imelda Marcos took place more than 13 years ago over a Chinese meal in Manila. This was before the Duterte family was recognized as a political force to be reckoned with in the Philippines,” Duterte’s ICC lawyer said.
It was not mentioned as to which case did Kaufman defended Marcos. Aside from the former First Lady, the British-Israeli lawyer has also served the Gaddafi children and Democratic Republic of Congo leader Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Recently, the lawyer of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte spoke about former spokesman Harry Roque who insisted to defend the former President.