The International Criminal Court prosecution has raised concerns over whether six Filipino lawyers are formally part of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s legal defense, citing what it describes as contradictions between private assurances and public remarks by lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman.
In a filing dated March 6, Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang asked Pre-Trial Chamber I to compel the defense to state on the record that Salvador Medialdea, Salvador Panelo, Martin Delgra, Silvestre Bello, Alfredo Lim, and Cesar Dulay hold no official role in the case. The prosecution wants written confirmation that the six have not received any disclosed or non-public material and “are not entitled to legally privileged meetings, or other communications, with Mr. Duterte in the Detention Centre.”
Niang’s filing traces the issue to Kaufman’s own words in media interviews surrounding the confirmation of charges hearing, which ran from Feb. 23 to Feb. 27. According to the document, Kaufman described his team as being “ably assisted and supported by” the six lawyers, who attended the proceedings from the public gallery. He also reportedly said Delgra and Medialdea had been “working with [us] all along,” and explained that the lawyers’ gallery-only access was a logistical matter, stating, “Well, yes, unfortunately they’ve arrived at the last minute, so it won’t be possible to get them passes so they can actually sit inside the court…”
Separately, Panelo allegedly said before the hearing that Duterte’s defense counsel had a scheduled meeting with the former president’s Filipino legal team “to discuss the confirmation hearing and potential strategies.”
“These statements have created the impression that the six lawyers are members of Mr. Duterte’s defence team before the International Criminal Court,” Niang wrote.
The prosecution said it first tried to resolve the matter informally. On Feb. 23, Kaufman told prosecutors the six lawyers were not members of the defense team, but the prosecution found that assurance at odds with his public comments. A follow-up email was sent on Feb. 25 seeking further clarification “for the purposes of ensuring [the Prosecution] continue[s] to meet [its] obligations under article 68…” — a provision of the Rome Statute requiring the prosecution to safeguard the safety, well-being, dignity, and privacy of victims and witnesses.
Having received no satisfactory response, the prosecution stated it needs the information “in order to conduct thorough risk assessments to potentially opposed their appointment.”
Duterte has been held at The Hague since March 12, 2025, facing allegations of crimes against humanity tied to his anti-drug campaign from Nov. 1, 2011, to March 16, 2019. Under Regulation 53 of the Court’s rules, the Pre-Trial Chamber has 60 days from the hearing’s conclusion to issue its written decision on whether to advance the case to trial.
