OPISYAL nang bahagi ng legal defense team ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa International Criminal Court (ICC) ang batikang French lawyer na si Atty. Dov Jacobs, matapos siyang italaga bilang Associate Counsel para sa kasong crimes against humanity na kinahaharap ng dating lider.
Batay sa dokumentong inilabas ng ICC, hiniling ni Atty. Nicholas Kaufman—lead counsel ni Duterte—noong April 2, 2025, na mapasama si Jacobs sa legal defense team bilang Associate Counsel.
Kinumpirma ng Registry ang appointment ni Jacobs noong April 3.
Inilahad ni Kaufman kung bakit niya piniling kunin si Jacobs bilang associate counsel.
“He will be assisting me on one very discreet issue. He is an international humanitarian lawyer and academic – very well-known. He’s a member of Leiden University – he lectures there. People in The Hague know him very well. And he’s also a proponent of one of the issues which is, how can I put it, central to this case. And if you’ve been following the debate, the academic debate which surrounds the jurisdiction issues, you will realize why he is now in our team,” ayon kay Atty. Nicholas Kaufman, Legal counsel ni FPRRD.
Dagdag pa ni Kaufman, isang “big shot” si Jacobs sa larangan ng batas.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s an extremely big shot, but then that’s just my view. I wouldn’t have hired him if I felt he wasn’t a big shot. I only hire big shots,” saad ni Atty. Kaufman.
Dagdag pa ng abogado, ipaglalaban niya si Duterte hanggang sa huli.
“Until the end. Until he is walking out of that prison here,” ani Kaufman.
Samantala, sinagot naman ni Kaufman ang pahayag ni Usec. Claire Castro ng Presidential Communications Office na magiging mahirap ang pagtatanggol kay dating Pangulong Duterte.
Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Kaufman na mananaig pa rin ang prinsipyo ng presumption of innocence sa kaso ng dating pangulo.
“Well, first, I’m glad that the Palace has acknowledged the basic presumption of innocence, because the former President is innocent until proven guilty,” dagdag ni Kaufman.
Patungkol naman sa umano’y harassment sa mga pamilya ng umano’y biktima ng extrajudicial killings (EJK), mariin itong itinanggi ni Kaufman.
Sabi niya wala itong koneksyon sa kanilang kampo.
“Now, regarding what was said about the harassment of witnesses — it is certainly not coming from our court. I can stress that time and time again. We have gone on the record, and we have asked people to respect the judicial process. There is no harassment coming from our court whatsoever,” paliwanag nito.
