Metro Manila, Philippines – Malacañang welcomed the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) warning against the spread of misinformation in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity case, saying the court was correct to call out statements that could mislead the public.
The Palace reacted to remarks made by ICC Trial Chamber III Presiding Judge Joanna Korner during the second status conference, where she cautioned lawyers against making inaccurate public statements about the proceedings.
In a briefing, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said that much of the misinformation on the case came from Duterte’s camp.
“Naging makabuluhan po ang ipinahayag ng ICC dahil nakita po natin na hindi lamang po tayo ang nakakakita at nakakapansin ng pagkalat ng fake news at karamihan po dito ay talagang nanggaling sa kampo ng mga Duterte lalong-lalo na patungkol dito sa kaso sa ICC,” Castro said.
[Translation: The ICC’s statement was significant because it showed that we are not the only ones noticing the spread of fake news, much of which has come from the Duterte camp, particularly regarding the ICC case.]
Castro specifically welcomed the court’s criticism of Duterte’s former lead counsel, Nicholas Kaufman.
“Tamang-tama lang po na na-call out si Atty. Kaufman dahil ang kanyang mga ipinapahayag ay pawang walang basehan, puro paninira sa gobyerno na hindi naman makakatulong sa depensa ng kanyang kliyente,” she said.
[Translation: It was only appropriate that Attorney Kaufman was called out because his statements were baseless and consisted only of attacks against the government that did not help his client’s defense.]
She added that Kaufman’s previous public statements were politically motivated.
Early this week, Korner warned counsel against making public statements that could mislead the public and emphasized that lawyers appearing before the ICC are bound by professional standards governing their conduct inside and outside the courtroom.
Kaufman withdrew as Duterte’s lead counsel in May and was replaced by British lawyer Peter Haynes.
Duterte is scheduled to stand trial at The Hague, Netherlands on Nov. 30 on charges of crimes against humanity of murder in connection with killings linked to his anti-drug campaign as president and before that as mayor of Davao City.
