ICC Releases Decision on Request of Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte amid the Ongoing Accusations
RODRIGO DUTERTE – The International Criminal Court denied the request of the former President to disqualify three (3) Filipino lawyers who represent the victims.
Former Pres. Duterte remains detained under the custody of the ICC for a little less than a year now. He is facing three (3) counts of murder as alleged crimes against humanity filed by the ICC prosecution.
In her legal battle before the ICC, Duterte hired a British-Israeli lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman. No Filipino lawyer is part of the legal team of the former President. According to Vice Pres. Sara Duterte, they want the lawyers of her father to really be focusing in the case.
Kaufman represented Duterte in several parts of the legal proceedings including the hearing for the former President’s interim release plea. Last November, the ICC rejected the interim release appeal of Duterte. His camp previously affirmed that they might request for his interim release anew.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte went through the checkup of three (3) medical experts appointed by the ICC after his lawyer claimed that he is allegedly unfit to stand trial. Based on the assessment of the experts, the foreign court ruled that the former President is fit to stand pre-trial proceedings.
Ahead of the confirmation of charges hearing set on February 23 to 27, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte requested the ICC to disqualify three (3) Filipino lawyers who represent the victims on the grounds of alleged impediment to representation and on the basis of alleged conflict of interest.
The lawyers that Duterte wants excluded from the legal process and prohibited from their access to the case are Joel Butuyan, Gilbert Andres, and Nicolene Arcaina. Recently, the ICC issued its decision on the request of the former President.
Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the International Criminal Court denied the request of former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to disqualify three (3) Filipino lawyers who represent the victims. The ruling of the foreign court was made nine-page document that stated that the defense failed to show conflict of interest on the part of Butuyan and Andres.
“In light of the above, the Chamber finds that the Defense’s alternative arguments do not demonstrate the existence of a conflict of interest regarding Mr. Butuyan and Mr. Andres within the meaning of article 16 of the Code,” the decision of the ICC reads.
Based on the report, the alleged conflict of interest claim of the Duterte camp against the Filipino lawyers is due to the claim of the defense that Butuyan and Andres supposedly have a professional relationship with Arcaina when they worked together in a law firm. Arcaina serves as the case manager of the victims.
Recently, the spokesperson of the ICC also made a clarification after the court allowed former Pres. Duterte to skip the confirmation of charges hearing.