Ito ang hiling ni Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary at Palace Press Officer Claire Castro kay British-Israeli lawyer na si Nicholas Kaufman, tumatayong lead counsel ni dating Pangulong Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte sa kaso nitong “crimes against humanity” sa International Criminal Court (ICC).
Hiningan kasi si Castro ng komento ukol sa sinabi ni Kaufman na isa sa pinakamalaking hamon na nakikita niya sa kaso ni Digong Duterte ay ang potensiyal na “political manipulation of arguments.”
Sinabi ni Castro na normal para sa para sa sinumang legal na tagapayo na nais na manalo ang kanyang kliyente.
“He will definitely face some difficulties… regarding the admissions made by his client. But we wish him all the luck because, still, we have to presume that the suspect is still innocent until proven guilty,” ang sinabi ni Castro.
Pinayuhan naman si Kaufman na ideterminang mabuti o alamin o tukuyin kung sino ang tunay na nilalang na minamanipula o nagmamanipula sa kaso ni Digong Duterte.
“Well, anyway, every lawyer desires and aspires to win all his cases for his clients. So, expected naman po natin na malamang ito ang magiging depensa po ni Atty. Kaufman. And siguro mas maganda rin po talaga, kasi sinabi niya po na political manipulation of arguments, so it is also better for him to know who manipulates who,” ang sinabi pa ni Castro.
Samantala, inihayag ni Kaufman ang tungkol sa political manipulation sa esklusibong panayam sa kanya ng NewsWatch Plus.
Tinanong si Kaufman kung ano ang potensiyal na mga hadlang sa paghawak sa kaso ni Digong Duterte at ang naging tugon nito ay, “The only potential hurdle that I foresee is the political manipulation of the arguments presented during the litigation. One argument, frequently and robotically raised to object to interim release, is the supposed existence of a huge support network that may be exploited either to facilitate flight or intimidation.” Kris Jose
