Camille Naredo

Defense Lawyer Nicholas Kaufman (R) speaks with Xavier Jean Keita of the office of public council for defense on March 27, 2014 at the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague during Charles Ble Goude's initial appearance. Michael Kooren, AFP/File

Defense Lawyer Nicholas Kaufman (R) speaks with Xavier Jean Keita of the office of public council for defense on March 27, 2014 at the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague during Charles Ble Goude's initial appearance. Ble Goude faced International Criminal Court judges for the first time today for his alleged role in a deadly post-election standoff three years ago. The leader of the so-called "Young Patriots", a fanatical group of Gbagbo supporters, is facing four counts of crimes against humanity for his role in the 2010-11 unrest which the UN said left 3,000 people dead. AFP PHOTO / POOL / MICHAEL KOOREN (Photo by MICHAEL KOOREN / POOL / AFP)

Article (news)

Dennis Gasgonia

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA -- British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman on Wednesday visited detained former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court detention center to discuss their case.</p><p>In an an ambush interview with ABS-CBN News&#x27; Zen Hernandez, Kaufman said he will be meeting his client to build up their defense. </p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m going to inspect the nature of the case against him. He&#x27;s going to have to fight it and win it,&quot; said the lawyers, who was officially appointed as the former president&#x27;s lead counsel last Monday.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/3/19/nicholas-kaufman-officially-appointed-duterte-s-legal-counsel-1904">READ: Nicholas Kaufman officially appointed as Duterte&#x27;s legal counsel</a></div><p>When asked about the composition of their legal team, he said they are still in the process of putting it together.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1902356635793686798&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-03-19T14%3A06%3A03.493077%3A047c6b8f-84d1-4d33-b831-433ce768b36b%26action%3Dedit%26popup&amp;sessionId=cfbbd3081964f9f3c0a55126362399f233e30ab8&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:624px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1902356635793686798"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>Duterte, who was arrested last March 11 in Manila, filed a signed letter on March 14 nominating Kaufman as his &quot;lead defense counsel.&quot;</p><p>According to documents made public on Wednesday, the ICC registry met with Duterte on Monday, March 17, where he confirmed his appointment of Kaufman as his counsel. Kaufman accepted his mandate on the same day.</p><p>Kaufman has 34 years of experience in international law, and previously represented former Congo Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba and former Central African Republic (CAR) minister Maxime Mokom, who were also charged with crimes against humanity before the ICC.</p><p>Duterte is facing charges of murder as a crime against humanity in the ICC over his bloody war on drugs during his administration. </p>

<p>British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman on Wednesday visited detained former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court detention center to discuss their case.</p>

British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman on Wednesday visited detained former President Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court detention center to discuss their case.

Kaufman visits Duterte at ICC detention center to discuss case

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Kaufman visits Duterte at ICC detention center to discuss case

Dennis Gasgonia,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 19, 2025 11:06 PM PHT

Read More:

Rodrigo Duterte

ICC

War on Drugs

Crime against humanity

ABSNews

Nicholas Kaufman

International Criminal Court

Duterte in ICC

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