THE defense team has submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) the first set of evidence it will use to defend former president Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte in his crimes against humanity case.
In a 3-page submission dated September 16, lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman said they have turned over at least 30 pieces of evidence to the Office of the Prosecutor and the Office of Public Counsel for Victims.
Kaufman did not provide details as to the nature of the evidence that their camp submitted, but said the items were turned over to the prosecution and the victims’ lawyers earlier this month.
“The disclosed items are detailed in confidential ex parte annex A,” he said in the filing.
The Pre-Trial Chamber 1 has reset the September 23 confirmation of charges hearing against the 80-year old Duterte to a later date in response to a request made by the defense team for an “indefinite adjournment” of all legal proceedings while the chamber determines Duterte’s fitness to stand trial.
Kaufman has told the chamber that Duterte is suffering from massive “cognitive impairment” in multiple domains, saying in a 13-page submission dated September 11 that the former president “suffers from significant cognitive deficiencies that affect his memory, his daily executive functioning, his visuo-constructive abilities, and his orientation to place and time while, simultaneously, limiting his capacity for complex reasoning.”
The defense lead counsel has also appealed to the Marcos administration to allow Duterte to return to the Philippines and face legal charges in the country, saying that his medical condition is “progressively deteriorating.”
The defense has filed other pleadings with the tribunal, including its request for Duterte’s interim release, disqualification of ICC lead Prosecutor Karim Khan from the case, and a challenge on the jurisdiction of the international tribunal to try and hear the case against the former president
