The Commission on Human Rights should not question President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that the two Russian drug suspects would be detained in a comfortable house and given a fair trial, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a radio interview said that CHR should also insist Senator Leila de Lima to be transferred to an ordinary jail.

“At saka iyong tinatawag na special treatment eh nakikita naman natin, si Leila De Lima may sarili siyang kulungan, wala siya sa City Jail ng Muntinlupa ‘no. Iyong Pemberton eh meron siyang sariling kulungan doon sa Aguinaldo,” he said.

“Well, alam n’yo po dapat maging patas din ang CHR. Dahil kung iyon lang ang sasabihin nila na dapat ordinaryong city jail habang dinidinig ang kaso sa drug trafficking, eh that’s equally applicable to someone like Leila De Lima ‘no,” he added.

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Roque said that Duterte made the offer as the country’s chief architect on foreign policy.

“So sa akin po, iyan ay nasa kapangyarihan ng Presidente. Iyan po ang legal at wala pong basehan iyong... ng special treatment dito. Ito po ay isang binitawang salita upang mapalapit po ang ating relasyon sa bansang Russia,” he said.

In his bilateral meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, Duterte vowed to give two Russians involved in the illegal drug trade a comfortable house and a fair trial.

Duterte has repeated said that he is a “hardliner” against illegal drugs, crime, and corruption. —NB, GMA News