THE lead defense counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he is seeking an audience with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to negotiate the return of the 80-year-old former chief executive to the Philippines.
In an interview in the Netherlands posted on the social media page of a pro-Duterte vlogger, Nicholas Kaufman said he wants to speak to Marcos and the Filipino people.
“I have a request for the Philippine government, the administration. I’m still waiting to be invited. I want to speak to you people. I want to negotiate the former president’s return to the Philippines,” Kaufman said in the interview.
Last month, Kaufman said Duterte may theoretically return to the Philippines even if the country is no longer a member of the Rome Statute if their plea for his interim release from detention is granted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC.
Kaufman said they are confident the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber 1 will grant Duterte’s request for interim release before the September 23 confirmation of hearing charges for the crimes against humanity filed against the former leader stemming from the brutal anti-drug crackdown of his administration.
“Personally speaking, I’m always confident. I can only speak for myself. I can’t speak for the judges. We have a judicial process. We’ve done the best we can. We’ve argued everything possible. We just hope that the judges will agree,” he said.
At the same time, Kaufman reiterated his appeal to Duterte supporters to keep their faith in the judicial system to free the former president from detention.
He also urged them to “keep praying for his speedy release with guarantees to the country he requests and for his speedy return to the Philippines.”
