American author Nicholas Kaufmann and Israeli British lawyer Nichoias Kaufman. From Kaufmann's Facebook page and Agence France-Presse

MANILA — American writer Nicholas Kaufmann on Tuesday complained about being "flooded" by messages from Filipinos who supposedly mistook him for Nicholas Kaufman, the lead counsel of former President Rodrigo Duterte in his case at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

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Kaufmann is an American author of horror fiction, urban fantasy, and adventure fiction, while Kaufman is a British-Israeli international law lawyer.

"I am being absolutely flooded today with followers and commenters from the Philippines who I guess don't believe I'm not Duterte's lawyer. Our names aren't even spelled the same (he's Kaufman with one N). It's insane!," he said on Facebook.

Kaufmann first raised the spamming on March 21, days after Kaufman was officially appointed as Duterte's lawyer tasked to defend him before the ICC, where the former leader faces the charge of crimes against humanity over his war on drugs. 

"I AM *NOT* THE ICC LAWYER NICHOLAS KAUFMAN WHO IS REPRESENTING PRESIDENT DUTERTE! PLEASE STOP MESSAGING ME!" Kaufmann said on the post, which was now pinned on his Facebook profile.

While the messages were initially from Duterte supporters, Kaufmann said Duterte critics eventually started messaging him, too, to apologize for the spamming.

"They started out pro-Duterte, but lately I'm getting some anti-Duterte commenters from the Philippines who are apologizing for the others and calling many of them bots," he said.

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Duterte's camp or Kaufman has yet to issue a statement on the matter.

This was not the first time Durterte's supporters spammed an individual linked to his case. 

ICC Pre-Trial Chamber-I Presiding Judge Iulia Motoc's online accounts have been littered with comments from users who appeared to be supportive of the former president, with some urging the international tribunal to return Duterte to the Philippines.

One lawyer of the drug war victims warned that spamming the ICC presiding judge's social media page could weigh against the grant of a possible interim release for Duterte.

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