Prosecution says link exists between Duterte and killings

MANILA, Philippines – Trial lawyer Julian Nicholls of the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution said they are prosecuting the most responsible of the alleged crimes — former president Rodrigo Duterte. 

Nicholls said during the last day of the ICC pre-trial hearing on Friday, February 27, that contrary to the defense’s claim, there is actually a link between Duterte and the alleged perpetrators in the killings. The trial lawyer said their evidence includes a witness with knowledge of Duterte giving supposed kill orders. 

Although he was not named in the chamber, self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) member and witness Arturo Lascañas had said in his 186-page affidavit that the kill orders came from Duterte himself, whom they call “Superman.”

In the prosecution’s closing statement, Nicholls also took a swipe at the defense and said that it was not surprising that there were limited police reports on the killings because the police were under Duterte himself as the commander-in-chief. 

The trial lawyer also criticized the downplaying of the term “neutralization” by the Duterte camp through defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman. Nicholls said neutralization means to kill because the victims were tagged as neutralized on the same day that they were killed. 

As a response to the defense’s claim that the DDS was only fictional, Nicholls noted that Duterte admitted three times under oath the existence of his supposed killing machine. 

– Rappler.com