00:00Duterte lead defense counsel Nicholas Kaufman presents his submissions on merits on day three
00:05of the confirmation of charges hearing against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at
00:10the International Criminal Court or ICC. Kaufman argues that the prosecution has not met the
00:15substantial grounds required by the court to bring the case against Duterte to trial. He focuses on
00:20what he calls a lack of evidence for criminal intent and the contextual elements of crimes
00:25against humanity. He says the so-called common plan mentioned by prosecutors was a legitimate,
00:30widely supported crime suppression strategy, not a criminal plan to murder. Kaufman also asserts
00:36there is no causal nexus linking Duterte's statements directly to the 49 incidents of murder.
00:41There is no smoking gun in this case and that is not for want of a desperate attempt to find
00:50one
00:50on the part of the prosecution with all their leading questions when they interviewed their
00:56criminal cooperating witnesses. The defense counsel also alleges that the alleged widespread or
01:02systematic attack against a civilian population is unsubstantiated. He claims the targeted group
01:08of suspected drug pushers and criminals is an arbitrary subgroup, not a legally defined civilian
01:14population. Crappler also talks to lawyer Ross Tugade, law professor and assistant to counsel at the ICC.
01:20Tugade comments on Kaufman's assertions that Duterte's speeches were just colorful narrative and did not
01:25show crafty design. Tugade says speeches, especially the impromptu ones, show intent and it is allowed in
01:32the ICC framework to establish a criminal pattern or modus operandi. Tugade also clarifies the meaning
01:38of the term civilian population within the framework of the Rome Statute.
01:42So in the elements of crimes, if you read there in the text, it says any civilian population. The word
01:49any there is not accidental. Any civilian population means any one part of the population.
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