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Philippine officials say arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has left Manila on a plane and he will be turned over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. A plane carrying Duterte left Manila late Tuesday.
ICC confirms warrant for arrest on suspected crimes against humanityThe Associated Press
· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 6:56 AM EDT | Last Updated: 30 minutes ago
Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he attends a senate probe on the drug war during his administration, in Manila on Oct. 28, 2024. Police said the campaign left more than 6,000 people dead, but rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs. (Jam Sta Rosa/AFP/Getty Images)Philippine officials say arrested former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has left Manila on a plane and he will be turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. A plane carrying Duterte left Manila late Tuesday.
Duterte was arrested after arriving with his family from Hong Kong at the Manila international airport Tuesday morning on a warrant from the ICC.
The ICC has said it would pursue an investigation of suspected crimes against humanity related to Duterte’s role in overseeing a bloody “war on drugs” that killed thousands of Filipinos.
Walking slowly with a cane, the 79-year-old former president turned briefly to a small group of aides and supporters, who wept as they bid him goodbye, before he was helped by an escort up the stairs into the plane.
Duterte had said on Monday in Hong Kong that he was ready to be arrested if the ICC issued a warrant and has repeatedly defended the anti-drugs crackdown. He has denied ordering police to kill drug suspects unless in self-defence.
Duterte’s former legal counsel Salvador Panelo said the arrest was unlawful, and said the police did not allow one of his lawyers to meet Duterte at the airport.
The firebrand Duterte unilaterally withdrew the Philippines from the ICC’s founding treaty in 2019 when it started looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings, and the Philippines had until last year refused to co-operate with the ICC investigation.
The “war on drugs” was the signature campaign policy that swept Duterte to power in 2016 as a maverick, crime-busting mayor who delivered on promises he made during vitriolic speeches to kill thousands of narcotics dealers.
According to police, 6,200 suspects were killed during anti-drug operations that they say ended in shootouts. But activists say the real toll of the crackdown was far greater, with thousands of drug users in the country’s slums, many of whom were included on official “watch lists,” killed in mysterious circumstances.
Police deny involvement in those killings and reject allegations from rights groups of systematic executions and cover-ups.
With files from Reuters
