Defense team says prosecution doesn’t have enough evidence vs Duterte

This report is part of Inquirer’s special coverage of Duterte at the ICC. For real-time updates, follow our live coverage of the confirmation hearing.

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s defense team on Thursday maintained that the prosecution does not have substantial evidence that the former chief executive provided practical assistance, encouragement, or moral support for the crimes committed during his administration’s bloody war on drugs.

READ: LIVE UPDATES: Duterte ICC Hearing – Confirmation of Charges (Feb. 26)

During the third day of the confirmation of charges hearing against Duterte before the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman argued that the prosecution had failed to elaborate on Duterte’s liability — whether through direct orders, solicitation, or aiding and abetting the killings committed during the drug war.

“There is no reliable evidence that Mr. Duterte provided practical assistance, encouragement, or moral support that substantially affected the commission of a crime with knowledge of the perpetrator’s intent,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman noted that the prosecution had also failed to clarify what it meant by solicitation.

“If it refers to ambiguous public speeches, then it is difficult to reconcile the frequent exhortations to self-defense with soliciting,” Kaufman said.

He further stressed that “generalized statements made months before specific incidents do not establish causation or instruction.”

Kaufman also questioned the prosecution’s investigative methods, alleging a lack of effort “to establish the existence of other actors” who could have been responsible for the deaths during the drug war.

“In my submission, no real attempt was made to perform this duty of examining exonerating circumstances, or even to establish the existence of other actors who might be responsible for the high incidence of deaths in the context of the war on drugs,” he said.

Kaufman also criticized the prosecution’s star witnesses, describing them as “inherently unreliable” because they are “self-confessed vicious murderers.”

“The prosecution’s star witnesses are self-confessed murderers, and most of their statements were taken by the prosecution’s investigators with the assurance of limited use — namely, that anything self-incriminating would not be used against them in proceedings at the ICC,” he said.

The lawyer contended that although the prosecution might argue that the limited-use agreements should not be interpreted as granting immunity from prosecution, “for all intents and purposes, they are,” he said.

“I do not think that I would be alone in believing that there is something morally repugnant, or even questionable from a public policy standpoint, about shielding not only one but a number of murderers from prosecution at the ICC just in an attempt to nail Rodrigo Duterte,” Kaufman added.

The confirmation of charges hearing against Duterte is being held to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to elevate the case against the former chief executive to a full trial.

The final hearing is set for Friday, Feb. 27.

Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity before the ICC in connection with his administration’s bloody war on drugs — which killed at least 6,000 people based on government records, and more than 30,000 based on human rights groups’ estimates. /jpv