Du30 lawyer airs objection to Butuyan as victims’ counsel
The legal team of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated its objection to the designation of human rights lawyer Joel Butuyan as counsel for the drug war victims in the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing the latter’s “preconceived views” and “slurs” against the former leader.
Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s lead defense counsel in his murder case at the ICC, recalled that Butuyan had “inappropriately” called his client a “monster mastermind” in a media interview.
“The defense voiced its objection to the appointment of Joel Butuyan in August last year citing his resort to satellite litigation, his preconceived views as to the former president’s guilt and slurs on his character,” Kaufman told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
“The defense argued that the representation of victims by a lawyer such as [Butuyan] who has ignored the presumption of innocence by referring to the former president as a ‘monster mastermind’ or a ‘mass murderer’ is inappropriate,” he added.
No more formal challenge
However, Kaufman said the defense team would no longer formally contest Butuyan’s appointment since the Pre-Trial Chamber I, the ICC body that made the selection, found “no inappropriate conduct arising out of [Butuyan’s] inflammatory comments.”
Sought for comment, Butuyan, who also writes a column for the Inquirer, said: “It is preposterous for Mr. Kaufman to think that the only lawyers qualified to act as victims’ counsel are those who act and speak like a lawyer for the accused. By his objections, Mr. Kaufman wants a victims’ counsel who functions like a member of his defense team.”
“In fact, the views I articulated against Mr. Duterte are mild compared to how many of the victims describe him. While Mr. Kaufman is entitled to mouth the pretext of his client, he cannot gag the victims from articulating their own views on Mr. Duterte, expressed through the counsel of their choice. Thankfully, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber easily saw the lack of merit of Mr. Kaufman’s objections,” he said in an Inquirer interview.
Feb. 23 hearing
In a Jan. 26 decision that became public on Tuesday, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) selected Butuyan and fellow human rights lawyer Gilbert Andres to be the common legal representatives of some 30 victims killed during the so-called drug war waged by Duterte, first as Davao City mayor and later as president.
The two lawyers are set to work with the Office of Public Counsel for Victims, for the remainder of the pretrial proceedings.
The are expected to helping the victims express their concerns to the court when Duterte faces the Hague-based tribunal, for the second time, on Feb. 23 for his confirmation of charges hearing.
Prior to their appointment, both have been assisting the victims’ families in filing cases against the enforcers of the crackdown, where thousands had been killed in police operations and vigilante-style attacks.
Inquirer story cited
In objecting to Butuyan’s selection, Kaufman cited an Inquirer story published on March 31, 2025, where the Filipino lawyer was quoted as saying:
“The ICC case is not a prosecution against ordinary police and their agents who pulled the trigger that resulted in 30,000 murders. Instead, it is a prosecution against the monster masterminds who ordered triggers to be pulled in order to implement the mass murder of suspected drug personalities.”
The British-Israeli lawyer also cited Butuyan’s media statements issued in April regarding Kaufman’s suggestion to limit the legal representation of victims and the types of IDs they could submit to seek participation in the case. Butuyan then said: “No, Mr. Kaufman, the victims must have the say on who should speak for them, and not you who speaks for the mass murderer.”
In Wednesday’s statement, Kaufman said “I will even assign him one of my interns to teach him the rules of evidence and the negligible weight that should be attached to bombastic statements in the media and the abundant hearsay that makes up the case against the former President.”
Objections dismissed
In its decision announcing the appointments of Butuyan and Andres, the PTC I dismissed the objections raised by the defense on Aug. 27 last year.
“The Chamber considers that the public views purportedly expressed by potential legal representatives of victims are only relevant insofar as they impact their ability to represent the interests of the victims or to comply with their obligations under the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel,” it said.
