New ICC warrants of arrest in Duterte case defy logic, defense lawyer Kaufman says

The defense lawyer of former President Rodrigo Duterte said it would defy logic to seek new warrants of arrest in connection with the charges of crimes against humanity of murder, and attempted murder pending against him before the International Criminal Court.

ICC-listed counsel Nicholas Kaufman made the remark after former presidential spokesman Harry Roque said a warrant of arrest had been issued on Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, the chief of the Philippine National Police, when Duterte launched his nationwide war on drugs.

Duterte was charged in connection with the killings in the anti-narcotics campaign.

“As I have already mentioned, it would defy prosecutorial logic for additional ICC arrest warrants to be sought in the context of the Philippines’ investigation before jurisdictional issues are resolved on appeal in the Duterte case,” Kaufman said.

“I do not believe that Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla - the unique source of this dubious intelligence - would be so remiss as to dice with prosecution at the ICC for contempt, by leaking the existence of a highly confidential arrest warrant for a suspect. Peddling fake news, however, carries no such risk,” he added.

It was Remulla who first said in November that a warrant had been sent out for Dela Rosa's arrest.

Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) have denied that they received the alleged ICC warrant against dela Rosa, who has been absent from the Senate for nearly a month now.

Dela Rosa was the main implementer of the campaign against illegal drugs during the previous administration.

Duterte is currently detained at The Hague in the Netherlands while awaiting trial. –NB, GMA Integrated News