Nicholas Kaufman, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s lawyer, has found himself in disagreement with both Duterte’s common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña and his former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. This comes ahead of the Davao City mayor’s confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in September this year.
On Friday, August 1, Avanceña revealed that her rights to visit her husband at the ICC detention center in The Hague have been suspended after she allegedly discussed the case with him over the phone. The Philippine Star reports that Avanceña has denied the allegations.
“I have nothing against you [Kaufman], but please do not deprive us of asking other people… of asking legal opinions from other lawyers also, but we acknowledge you as his lawyer,” she said in a video posted in the pro-Duterte YouTube channel Boldyak TV.
Kaufman, on the other hand, has chosen not to speak on Avanceña’s statement. “For judicial reasons and out of respect for family privacy, I am not going to comment on the veracity of Honeylet Avanceña’s allegations concerning her presence not being desired at the ICC detention center,” he said.
He added that the businesswoman was only “emotionally distressed” for reasons he cannot discuss. “As a consequence, she is making all sorts of wild allegations, which are being stoked by others.”
‘No Disagreements’
Kaufman has also been caught in a verbal row with Roque, who continues to appeal for political asylum in the Netherlands amid his qualified human trafficking charges in the Philippines. In June, VP Sara Duterte said that Roque suggested Duterte’s camp “go through the Dutch laws” and sue the Dutch government for what they believed to be a case of extraordinary rendition.
Extraordinary rendition is the practice of kidnapping or capturing individuals and sending them to foreign countries for detention and interrogation.
According to Rappler, Kaufman had called Roque’s suggested legal remedy a “crazy scheme.” Despite this, the British-Israeli lawyer said there are “no internal disagreements” in Duterte’s legal team. “Harry Roque is an irrelevancy and my only regret is that I am being forced to spend far too much time having to deal with his comical intrigues,” Kaufman said. “There are also absolutely no personal misunderstandings between those who are of importance to the former president.”
Kaufman has also claimed that the former president wished for Roque to stop interfering in his ICC case. However, Roque has both denied interfering in the case and claimed that Duterte approved of suing the Dutch government as an option. He told Rappler, “VP confirmed that PRRD approved. She said so in a briefing after one of her visits.”
According to The Philippine Star, Kaufman has severed contact with Roque after finding out about his involvement in Philippine offshore gaming hub Lucky South 99’s human trafficking case as the company’s lawyer.
In response to Kaufman’s statements, Roque said on Facebook, “Why is he so bothered by my ‘irrelevant’ existence and connect me with Ms. Avanceña’s suspension of visitation rights? Comical, indeed, is this Kaufman-style of blame game.”
Duterte’s confirmation of charges hearing before the ICC has been set for September 23. He was arrested in March and brought to the ICC’s detention facility in The Hague for charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his administration’s war on drugs.
