Duterte will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance, court says.
Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands and has been handed over to the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on allegations of crimes against humanity related to his deadly “war on drugs.”
Duterte was arrested on Tuesday in the Philippine capital, Manila, after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, and was escorted onto a plane to Rotterdam by police.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ICC stated that Duterte, 79, had been “arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines in accordance with an arrest warrant issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I for charges of murder as a crime against humanity.”
The statement added that he will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance. Duterte was transferred to a detention unit on the Dutch coast.
The ICC’s arrest warrant alleged that, as president, Duterte created, funded, and armed death squads that participated in the killings of alleged drug users and dealers.
If prosecuted, he could become the first former Asian head of state to stand trial in The Hague.
Rival Protests
Outside the ICC building in The Hague, anti-Duterte protesters celebrated his arrest and held banners that read, “We demand justice and accountability, Rodrigo Duterte is a war criminal!”
Menandro Abanes told Reuters that Duterte’s arrest was “great news for the Filipino people.”
“I’m here to show my appreciation to the ICC for doing its job to end impunity,” Abanes added.
Another protester, Mary-Grace Labasan, told Reuters that Duterte was “lucky.”
“He is experiencing the due process of law, unlike the victims who were simply shot and killed without any due process,” she said.
Meanwhile, pro-Duterte supporters also gathered outside the court building.
In 2021, the ICC launched an investigation into the mass killings linked to the war on drugs, which Duterte oversaw both as mayor of Davao City and later as president.
According to the warrant, ICC judges who reviewed the prosecution’s evidence found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Duterte is individually responsible for the crime against humanity of murder” as an “indirect co-perpetrator for allegedly overseeing the killings during his tenure as mayor of Davao and later as president of the Philippines.”
During Duterte’s six-year presidency, police reported that 6,200 suspects were killed in anti-drug operations. However, human rights groups estimate the death toll to be as high as 30,000.
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