Through his legal counsel, former President Rodrigo Duterte has purportedly urged former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque to return to his homeland rather than meddle with his case before the International Criminal Court.
“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,” Nicholas Kaufman, leading the former chief executive’s defense team said.
According to a report by Weena Jesoro of DZRH, Duterte’s case may endure a blow due to Roque’s plans to sue the government of the Netherlands, whose cooperation is necessary to grant Duterte’s release.
“A Dutch lawyer has confirmed to me that Harry Roque approached him with an initiative to sue the Dutch government for facilitating the rendition of the former President,” Kaufman revealed.
“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,” he explained.
Moreover, although Duterte, along with those in his immediate circle, have not shown interest in engaging Roque as a lawyer, Roque has reportedly “portrayed himself as the only person capable of defending” the former President, said Kaufman.
Roque took to social media to hit back on Kaufman’s statement. He rejected the notion that he was interfering in Duterte’s case, claiming he only intends to bring the former head of state home.
“My support to the Duterte Legal Defense continues. There is no truth that I have interfered in the case or I have given statements that might affect the Defense legal strategy in the International Criminal Court (ICC),” Roque wrote in a Facebook post.
Describing himself as a “loyal foot soldier” for the Duterte family, he defended the legal remedy he had devised out of frustration with Duterte’s pre-trial detention. He argued that he and Vice President Sara Duterte have discussed it on several occasions.
“I cannot be blamed for devising remedies to bring former Presidente Duterte home alive. No such idea can be characterized as a crazy scheme. In fact, the Vice President acknowledged that we have discussed the domestic legal remedy in numerous occasions and I have deferred to VP’s decision to hold the domestic legal remedy in abeyance pending the outcome of the interim release,” he said.
The lawyer advised Kaufman to “to put an end to this blame game and simply channel his time and energy to bring the former President home alive.”
Victims of Duterte’s Drug War have appealed to the ICC to reject his bid to delay a ruling on the court’s jurisdiction over the case.
