Vice President Sara Duterte said her detained father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, refused to replace lead counsel Nicholas Kaufman despite the lawyer's unsuccessful bid to halt upcoming ICC confirmation of charges hearings. Speaking after visiting him in The Hague, she relayed his instructions to the legal team as pre-trial proceedings resume next month.
In an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, following a visit to her father at Scheveningen Prison, Vice President Sara Duterte recounted asking Rodrigo Duterte: ‘Do you want to change (Kaufman) and are you not satisfied?’ He firmly replied, ‘(Kaufman) will not be replaced,’ while providing instructions to the team—details Sara declined to share.
This comes after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I's recent 25-page decision denying the defense's adjournment request over Duterte's alleged cognitive impairment, deeming him fit to participate with assistance measures (as covered in prior updates on the Duterte ICC case). The confirmation of charges hearing is now set for February 23.
Sara also thanked supporters gathered outside the detention facility and affirmed her father is doing okay.
Separately, the defense has appealed Duterte's continued detention. Lead counsel Kaufman filed a notice Wednesday challenging the Pre-Trial Chamber's January 26 detention review decision, arguing the judges erred by dismissing the defense's medical report in favor of an independent panel's findings. A detention review hearing is slated for February 27.
