The lead counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte expects that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will decide on their interim release request “within a month.”

This was disclosed by Nicholas Kaufman, the lead defense counsel of the former chief executive, during an interview livestreamed on Alvin & Tourism Facebook page last June 30.

“I would hope that within a month it would be decided. Under the Rome Statute, the judges are meant to rule on the request for interim release as speedily as possible,” he said.

He also revealed a plan to request the Court to allow the defense to reply to the prosecution’s response to the interim release application after the prosecution raised several arguments on why Duterte must not be temporarily released from detention.

Kaufman also “stand by what I said” when asked about his earlier claim that the prosecution did not oppose the defense’s application for interim release.

The prosecution hinted in its argument that it opposed the interim release request because the unspecified destination country where Duterte was to be released was changed by the defense.

“There was originally a non-opposition to interim release, but I'm not going to litigate the case now in the media. The case is a live issue,” the lawyer said, adding that he is not allowed to “litigate” the case on social media.

Kaufman also declined to expound on reports claiming that Belgium and Australia declined to host the former president during his interim release.

He explained instead that assistant to counsel for the ICC Kristina Conti, who represents victims of the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla have sourced their information erroneously.

Belgium and Argentina, Kaufman explained, have signed an interim release agreement with the International Criminal Court, which could have led Conti and Remulla to think these were two possible destination countries for the former president.

And although the Duterte camp would want the former president to return to the Philippines even just on interim release, the lawyer said it was already clear the current government will not accept him.

“Even non-state parties can host persons who are on interim release from the International Criminal Court should the court approve it,” he shared.

“Obviously, we would want President Duterte to go back to the Philippines. If I'm not mistaken, the government has already stated, point blank, that it's not prepared to receive him,” he added.

He expects, however, that the public can know to which country Duterte will be released to should his application for interim release be granted.

Despite the defense’s request to disqualify two ICC judges—Judges Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou and Judges María del Socorro Flores Liera—from adjudicating on their jurisdiction challenge, Kaufman maintained that he has confidence in the impartiality of the ICC and the judges.

“I trust the judges, and I trust the judges took the decision that they took for the right reasons. I have no reason to doubt them,” he said, adding that “new information has come to light” that “would have made a difference had I known about it before I made the request to disqualify the judges.”

The lawyer was also prodded about integrity of the judicial process at the ICC after the dismissal of the request to disqualify the two judges who were members of the previous chamber that allowed the ICC prosecutor to initiate the investigation into Duterte’s brutal war on drugs in 2021.

“I'm not going to impugn the impartiality or the partiality of the International Criminal Court. As far as I'm concerned, the judges are doing their job, as they expected to do, given their mandate under the Rome Statute. I have no reason whatsoever to doubt their integrity,” Kaufman stressed.

The lawyer, who handled other high-profile ICC cases, thumbed down suggestions that Duterte can seek remedy or protection under a Dutch domestic law while under detention at the ICC.

“Well, I think I know where that comes from,” he said, without naming former presidential spokesman Harry Roque who floated the idea.

“There's some Filipino lawyer who suggested that he might be able to seek remedies under Dutch law. That's not the case,” he added.