Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks throughout a senate inquiry on the so-called struggle on medication throughout his administration on the Philippine Senate, Oct. 28, 2024, in Manila, Philippines.
Aaron Favila/AP
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Aaron Favila/AP
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte landed within the Netherlands Wednesday and was taken into custody on the Worldwide Legal Court docket in The Hague, the place he’ll face costs of crimes towards humanity.
Duterte’s successor and political rival, present president Ferdinand Marcos Jr., introduced Duterte’s arrest late Tuesday within the Philippine capital Manila. Duterte is accused of crimes towards humanity, linked to a number of extrajudicial killings carried out throughout his time in workplace as he sought to stamp out the nation’s drug commerce — utilizing typically brutal techniques that the previous president as soon as celebrated.
Marcos — whose personal father ran the nation as an more and more authoritarian chief from the mid-Sixties to the mid-Eighties — stated that an arrest warrant from the ICC prompted an Interpol purple discover, which in flip obliged Philippine police to arrest Duterte when he landed in Manila on a flight from Hong Kong.
“We followed the legal procedure that is necessary,” Marcos stated at a press convention late Tuesday.
A Gulfstream plane carrying 79-year-old Duterte — who left workplace in 2022 — stopped for a number of hours in Dubai on the lengthy journey from Manila, the place he was arrested early Tuesday, and the place supporters gathered to protest outdoors the airport previous to his departure.
Duterte will turn into the primary former chief from Asia to face costs on the courtroom in The Hague. His daughter, Sara Duterte, the nation’s present vice chairman, described the arrest and flight to the Netherlands as a type of “state kidnapping” carried out for political functions, in response to questions from native journalists.
However native advocacy teams who lengthy criticized his tenure and techniques celebrated the transfer. “We relish the victory of his arrest today,” stated the Nationwide Union of Peoples’ Legal professionals, which represents victims of state-sponsored violence and their households. “It shows how international law can be used to hold state officials accountable even when they occupy posts and perform functions that do not bring them in direct contact with the underlying acts.”
In accordance with Amnesty Worldwide, Duterte’s violent crackdowns left as much as 30,000 folks lifeless throughout his presidency and earlier because the mayor of Davao Metropolis.
A lawyer himself, Duterte beforehand stated he would favor to face trial contained in the Philippines, earlier than an area choose, native prosecutor and below native legal guidelines, however would additionally not search safety in a 3rd nation to keep away from any warrant issued by the ICC.
Duterte’s supporters have already filed three petitions to the Philippine Supreme Court docket that calls for he be returned to Manila, on behalf of his different daughter, Veronica Duterte, and his son, present Davao Metropolis Mayor Baste Duterte. The petitions argue that because the Philippines withdrew from the treaty that empowers the ICC, it ought to now not have jurisdiction.
The ICC prosecutor argues that because the incidents he and his workforce have investigated for Duterte’s prosecution occurred earlier than 2019, the courtroom nonetheless has jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.
However Philippine President Marcos stated the nation’s prosecutors and police had no selection however to honor the ICC warrant, in any other case they risked shedding worldwide legislation enforcement cooperation sooner or later. He additionally insisted that the ICC’s investigation had not concerned any cooperation from Philippine legislation enforcement.
The ICC prosecution, led by chief prosecutor Karim Khan, says there are affordable grounds to consider that safety forces below Duterte’s management and directions killed dozens of individuals labeled as criminals or drug sellers, a lot of them in and round Davao Metropolis, which Duterte ruled for greater than 20 years. The ICC started its investigation in 2021, and initially centered on the interval between 2011 and 2019. Duterte grew to become president in 2016.
Duterte’s first look within the courtroom will likely be scheduled now that he has arrived within the Netherlands, the ICC stated.
