THE HAGUE – Nasisi pa ng legal counsel ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na si Nicholas Kaufman ang media sa maling pananaw ng publiko laban sa war on drugs.
Aniya, ginawa ang sensationalization sa programa ni Duterte sa kanyang administrasyon.
Ani Kaufman, ang depiksyon ng media ang nagtulak para maging target si Duterte ng civil society na pinopondohan umano ng mga tycoon at academics sa ibang bansa.
“They highlight the salacious content while ignoring the true context because that it what captivates the reader,” saad sa pahayag ng defense lawyer ni Duterte kasabay ng hearing.
“Rodrigo Duterte, whose speeches were fertile fodder for his enemies and detractors, a man whose hyperbole, bluster and rhetoric, once published, became a natural target for privately funded NGOs and human rights activists and those collectively known as civil society,” dagdag pa niya.
Iginiit ni Kaufman na ang mga kaso ay pinagdedesisyunan batay sa ebidensya, “not supposition, not rumor, not spicy gossip, and certainly not on the basis of political rhetoric and bluster.”
“Because at the end of the day, were it not for those belligerent and controversial speeches, there would have been no impetus to bring the people’s president to The Hague,” dagdag pa niya.
Magpapatuloy ang confirmation of charges hearings ng ICC ngayong araw, Pebrero 24, sa 26, at sa 27. RNT/JGC
