Nicholas Kaufman, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s counsel, dismissed International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan as incapable, citing his disqualification from his client’s case.

“He [Khan] can’t really carry out his role as the prosecutor,” Kaufman said in a Facebook video shared by Alvin on the Tourism page, which usually covers what’s going on in The Hague, where the ICC is headquartered.

Khan had previously represented victims of extrajudicial drug-related killings in the Philippines, including the Philippine Human Rights Commission (PHRC) in 2018.

Three years later, he was appointed ICC prosecutor. In 2025 an arrest warrant was issued for Duterte on charges of crimes against humanity.

Following Duterte’s detention in March, his defense team filed an appeal against Khan, with the ruling handed down on 15 October.

“So what we argued was about having a prosecutor who formally represented victims suddenly changing sides and becoming the prosecutor,” Kaufman explained.

“The investigation was contaminated when he represented those victims back in 2018,” he noted.

Kaufman expressed hope Duterte would be released and he would continue to be involved in his case.

“We hope he will be released and he will continue to follow the case, continue to participate in the case,” he said.

Kaufman branded as erroneous the ICC decision to junk their appeal for Duterte’s interim release.

“When I describe a decision as being erroneous, I’m using legalese,” the British-Israeli barrister said in a video posted on Facebook by the page Alvin in Tourism.

“It’s a term that we have to use if we’re going to appeal because appeals are decided based on errors of law and errors of fact in the decision on interim release,” he explained.

On 10 October, the ICC issued a 23-page court document containing the decision made by the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I that stated that Duterte “continues to pose a flight risk” and that his detainment is essential to ensure his presence during pre-trial proceedings and a possible trial.

However, Kaufman said the legal team has filed a notice of appeal on the ruling.

“We believe the first instance chamber, the pre-trial chamber, should have taken things under consideration and given better weight to them. We believe that was an error,” he said.

Silence, Sara

In the document released by the ICC, the ruling also noted that public statements made by Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, affected the court’s decision.

“More specifically, the chamber noted that on 19 July, Mr. Duterte’s daughter mentioned in public speeches the idea of breaking Duterte out of the ICC Detention Centre,” the ruling read.

For Kaufman, however, such “excessive comments” should not be encouraged.

“The judges of the International Criminal Court have a job to perform, just as counsel have a job to perform, and they shouldn’t have every act scrutinized in the media,” he said.