FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte no longer wants his ex-spokesperson, Harry Roque, to be involved in his case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), defense lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman said.
Duterte is being held by the ICC for the crimes against humanity for murder that was filed by families and relatives of extrajudical victims of his administration’s bloody drug war.
In an interview posted at the Facebook page Alvin & Tourism, Kaufman said the former president also wants Roque to return to Manila and face his legal battles.
Roque is the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by the Angeles City Regional Trial Court for qualified human trafficking in connection with his alleged involvement in the operation of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility in Porac, Pampanga that was raided by authorities last year due to irregularities.
“The former president has made it known that Roque should stop interfering in his case and return to the Philippines to sort out his own troubling legal issues,” Kaufman said.
He also accused Roque of undermining Duterte’s defense team by supposedly misleading the public and pushing legal remedies without coordination.
He said a Dutch lawyer informed him that he was purportedly approached by Roque, who suggested that defense lawyers sue the Dutch government for facilitating the rendition of Duterte from Manila last March.
“In my opinion, this was a crazy scheme because the release of the former president would require the cooperation of the Dutch Government – something unlikely to be forthcoming if they are being sued by the person concerned. I was also told that once the Dutch lawyer learned that Harry Roque was a fugitive from justice, he severed all contact with him,” Kaufman narrated.
Despite this, Kaufman said Roque supposedly remained persistent, to the point of being “obsessive.”
Kaufman said Roque’s plan to sue the Dutch government could jeopardize the defense’s efforts to release Duterte from detention.
“I have made it known that I would find it hard to forgive him for that and I refuse to entertain his ramblings. From day one, Harry Roque has portrayed himself as the only person capable of defending the former president, motivating the public against me and my team,” he also said.
Kaufman said Roque continues to meddle in the case.
“As it is, neither the former president nor anyone else in his immediate vicinity, is interested in Harry Roque as a lawyer,” he added.
In a post on his social media account, Roque denied that he interfered with or “gave statements that may affect” the strategy of the former president before the ICC.
According to Roque, “ad hominem attacks and other forms of character assassination have no place in the legal profession and any decent society.”
“Especially if these are directed against individuals who have not – as I said earlier – interfered in the case,” he said.
“I thus call on Atty. Nicholas Kaufman to put an end to this blame-game and simply channel his time and energy to bring the former president home alive to make the Filipinos the happiest persons on earth. I hope this puts the record straight,” he said.
He said the legal remedy he proposed was subject to the approval of Duterte and his family.
