MANILA, Philippines — Walang direktang utos si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na pumatay ng mga hinihinalang drug suspect sa ilalim ng kanyang kampanya kontra ilegal na droga, ayon sa kanyang abogado na si Nicholas Kaufman sa International Criminal Court (ICC) nitong Huwebes.
Sa ikatlong araw ng confirmation of charges hearing sa ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I, sinabi ni Kaufman: “There is no smoking gun in this case, and it is not for want of a desperate attempt to find one on the part of the prosecution with all their leading questions when they interviewed their criminal cooperating witnesses.”
“Not one witness relevant to any of the 49 incidents with which Mr. Rodrigo Duterte is charged will testify that he received a direct order from the former president to go out and kill someone,” dagdag pa niya.
Nahaharap si Duterte sa kasong crimes against humanity kaugnay ng mga pagpatay sa kanyang anti-drug campaign bilang alkalde ng Davao City at bilang pangulo.
Tinuligsa ni Kaufman ang alegasyon ng prosekusyon na si Duterte ay naglunsad ng “attack on the entire population of the Philippines pursuant to a policy to neutralize persons perceived or alleged to be engaged in crime,” at tinawag itong “quite bizarre.”
Iginiit din niya na walang “common plan” sa pagitan ni Duterte at ng mga umano’y kasabwat nito, at sinabing basta na lamang pinagsama-sama ng prosekusyon ang mga indibidwal na may magkakatulad na pahayag.
“Instead of seeking evidence which might shed light on the interactions of these individuals between one and another and construing a criminal conspiracy therefrom… The prosecution has taken its preconceived and predetermined premise of a criminal plan and forcibly superimposed it on these individuals,” aniya.
Batay sa rekord ng pamahalaan, nasa 6,200 ang nasawi sa anti-drug operations.
Ayon kay Kaufman, maliit ito kumpara sa bilang ng mga naaresto. Ipinakita niya ang datos na mula Hulyo 2016 hanggang Pebrero 2019, 97% ng drug personalities ang naaresto at 3% ang nasawi.
“If I may just conclude, the only thing that is widespread here, or rather spread wide, is the utility of the prosecution’s statistics,” aniya.
Binanggit din ni Kaufman ang mga talumpati ni Duterte kung saan inaatasan ang pulis na pumatay lamang kung may self-defense, gayundin ang mga memorandum circular na nag-uutos sa mga awtoridad na igalang ang karapatang pantao at sundin ang wastong operational procedures.
Nauna namang sinabi ni ICC Prosecutor at Senior Trial Lawyer Julian Nicholls na sinubukan ni Duterte na bumuo ng “veneer of plausible deniability” sa pamamagitan ng pagbanggit ng self-defense.
“Those references on self-defense appear throughout Mr. Duterte’s speeches. They’re all over the place. We don’t run away from that. We don’t shy away from that. That’s part of our theory,” aniya.
Umalis ang Pilipinas sa Rome Statute ng ICC noong 2018 at naging epektibo ito noong 2019. Gayunman, sinabi ng Korte Suprema noong 2021 na may obligasyon pa rin ang bansa na makipagtulungan sa ICC kaugnay ng mga insidenteng naganap habang kasapi pa ito.
Bago magtapos, iginiit ni Kaufman na hindi minamaliit ng depensa ang pagkawala ng mga nasawi. “Any criticism made by us today will not be leveled at the loved ones of those such as the tearful relative who I saw in the gallery here on Tuesday,” aniya.
“The defense’s criticism will be confined only to the prosecution’s document containing the charges that governs these proceedings, not what has been reported elsewhere in the media.” RNT
