Sara: Will discuss with pa possible replacement of his lawyers
Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday disclosed plans to talk with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, about the possible replacement of his legal counsel in his murder case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a chance interview at The Hague in the Netherlands, where she was told of reports citing calls to have the defense team replaced, the younger Duterte said: “That’s right. I actually said earlier that I would ask that, but I forgot. Sorry, I will ask that question tomorrow to former President Duterte. I forgot that question earlier.”
British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman has been serving as the ex-president’s chief defense counsel since March last year. He was appointed days after Duterte was arrested in Manila and handed over by the Marcos administration to the ICC, where the former leader faces trial for crimes against humanity over his bloody war on drugs.
The supposed calls for the replacement were made after ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected the defense team’s request for an indefinite adjournment of the proceedings due to the elder Duterte’s supposed cognitive impairment.
Fit to participate
With the rejection, the chamber scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing of Duterte’s case for Feb. 23.
Earlier this week, the PTC ruled that Duterte, 80, was fit to participate in the trial based on the unanimous findings of three medical experts tapped by the court to examine the accused.
The experts included a forensic psychiatrist, a neuropsychologist, and a geriatric and behavioral neurologist.
Kaufman later said the defense would further challenge the chamber’s ruling through a leave to appeal. He also contended that the ex-president was denied due process when the court did not ask his lawyers to submit evidence disputing the medical assessment.
